


Liar, Liar

by ClearAutumnVibes



Category: The Pretenders Guild
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ash is secretly Shika Royalty, Canon-Typical Violence, Drinking, Flirting, Gambling, I'll try my best, I'm Trying to Make Shika Culture From Breadcrumbs, Kinda, Mostly Canon Compliant, Nonbinary Character, Other, Paris is a disaster bi, Politics, Reincarnation, Scheming, Secret Identity, Secretly Royalty, Self-Indulgent, Sexual innuendos, Shika Language, Shika are based on Japan and China, Shika!Ash, Slight mention of Shika racism, Transmigration, at least for a while, canonical violence, don't take this seriously
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:00:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 48,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23701207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClearAutumnVibes/pseuds/ClearAutumnVibes
Summary: Ash Norbaum is supposed to be main character in a fun, dating visual novel with its unique twists and storyline. The backgrounds are simple, the races are briefly explained and the romance could be finished within three hours.However, after a car crash, this Ash isn't just 'some Shika'. This Ash is the reincarnation of a completionist who finished all eight endings of the game. Armed with foreknowledge, martial arts skills thanks to their past life dad, and a big smile, Ash is ready to take on Revaria. But there are somethings even this Ash doesn't know such as why there's this odd flower mark on their forehead or why their name isn't actually Ash.Hey, author? Why is this different than what the background said?!
Relationships: Paris Burr/Prince Braums, Shika!Ash/Rafael
Comments: 4
Kudos: 4
Collections: Reincarnation and Transmigration





	1. Liar's Game

Kneeling in front of the small statue of Talia, I began my prayer. My mother knelt next to me, her beautiful black hair spilling over her shoulders. Even so, her long hair did not cover the horns that curled at the side of her head in place of ears. The knowledgeable part of me knows that she will soon die and leave me alone.

I don’t know when she’ll die so I’ve been asking her everything I needed to know about the Shika and their culture and perhaps, she must have known my intelligence otherwise, why else would she explain things in detail.

There’s one strange thing I’ve noticed though, there’s a mark on the center of our foreheads. A brilliant vermillion flower that resembles a stylized Sakura. It’s odd. Seeing as far as I know the main character, Ash, never had such a marking.

My mother clapped three times, pulling me out of my thoughts and having me do the same.

Right, it’s been six years since I transmigrated into this game…

* * *

Before all of this, I was a foreign language teacher. I taught Mandarin since that was the most ‘in demand’ language. And before I was a teacher, I used to help my father out in his martial arts lessons.

My parents are the best. My mother is a professional flautist from the UK and my father was a Japanese immigrant who moved to there in order to start a new. While my father was bad with verbally expressing his emotions, he bonded with me by teaching me martial arts. My mother was the competitive type so she saw this as a challenge to teach me the flute.

While it may have been somewhat of a challenge, all that posturing always ended with the two of them expressing how proud they were of me and how much they loved me. My mother may have been from the UK but that’s because she’s born there. Her grandparents moved to the UK and that was it.

It’s funny seeing as I picked up both Mandarin and Japanese at the same time. My mother would jokingly complain of how I used to speak Japanese to her only to turn around and answer my father in Mandarin. As you can see, I love my parents dearly.

I had a decently life. Loving family, skills in karate, musical talent with the flute, as well as a stable job.

But life never works that way does it?

I died from a car crash. It was winter, the biting cold nipped my fingers and kissed my cheeks. I was walking when a car slid on the ice covered road. I don’t remember what happens other than the fact I wake up and I’m a baby.

I always believed in reincarnation. Perhaps it’s the Shinto and Taoist influences my parents had on me. So here I am in a game I recognize from many nights worth of replays as I tried to get all eight endings.

The Pretenders Guild, a visual novel with a customizable main character with three romance options, one from each race. I realized I was in the form of the ‘latest’ Ash I had customized, a black haired, red eyed, Shika. I had saved the good ending with Rafael for last as was my habit for getting bad ends fist and then working my way up to the good ends.

So it would be just my luck that I transmigrated into this Ash.

Which leads to now.

* * *

Apparently, Ash wasn’t my real name. It’s actually a public name since my mother insisted that I keep my actual name hidden. When I asked her why she picked ‘Ash’ as my ‘public’ name, she replied with a soft smile.

“Because like the trusted bird of Talia, you will rise from the ashes.” She stroked my face with the back of her hand.

I let it be for now and asked he, “Then what about my actual name, what does it mean?”

“Your actual name is Suzaku,” Mother smiled as she bushed the hair away from my forehead. “It is a traditional Shika name which refers to Talia’s phoenix that guards her disciples.”

I blinked. “Oh, that’s pretty cool. And what does your name mean?”

“My public name may be ‘Samantha’ but it is actually ‘Shio’, as in salt. It’s a symbol of purification.”

“And what about the flower on our foreheads?”

“… You’ll find out once you’re older.”

Pouting, I nodded my head. Guess she’s keeping her secrets. After all, I don’t think the public name is a common Shika thing since the naming and the culture seems to be leaning towards something similar to Japan but I’ll never know. After all, the main goddess is named ‘Talia’ with a proper ‘L’. So maybe it’s just vaguely Eastern Asian?

* * *

Surprisingly, my mom didn’t mind the fact I could play the bamboo flute she got me so easily for my seventh birthday. I think she sees me as one of those ‘old soul’ type of children. Or maybe she chalked it up to reincarnation? After all, we Shika believe in reincarnation.

I’ve also began to work on my karate. I guess, I just miss my father. I wonder if they miss me too or if they’re alright back on earth. I try not to think of it since my mother here is just as kindly and I know my parents would urge me to enjoy this new life.

It’s just hard to do that when you couldn’t even give them a proper goodbye.

Anyway, it’s been seven years so I’m sure they’ll be fine. I’ll just have to keep on moving. After all, I still have to think of the future events because no way am I going to be a chef! I want to be an adventurer. Though…

I’ll still need a temporary job in Beldalle. Maybe I can just be a musician in Paris’ restaurant before Beldalle gets overtaxed to oblivion? Actually, that can work!

Alright, so once I grow older, I’ll be a musician. Then once the Pretenders Guild comes under way, I’ll become an adventurer instead! I grinned at my own brilliance. Good job, Suzaku! Now to just polish myself up to my martial arts knowledge, never have I been so grateful that my past life father was a martial artist!

* * *

Something’s wrong, I frown. My mother’s finally speaking more than just Shika tradition, culture and history, she’s finally giving me answers.

“Suzaku,” Mother sighed, “Your father is dead as you may know. But that is not important, what is important is who did it.”

I furrowed my eyebrows. “What do you mean ‘who’?”

“The person who killed him is a Shika named Rai. Your father was a general with plenty of military merit.”

I shuddered at this, having understood the implications. Since when did a simple, straight forward dating visual novel become a court intrigue novel? The fact that Rai is the one to kill my father somehow doesn’t surprise me. This is the guy who’ll put a price on the King of Revaria’s head.

“And-and the flowers?” I reached out, brushing aside my mother’s bangs to gaze at that red Sakura.

“It’s the mark of the royal family. Suzaku, it is best not to covet the throne. Rai has full control of it despite the puppet he has placed to warm the seat.”

My eyes went wide at this.

 _Oh._ It really is a court drama now. Despite the way her words were meant to dissuade me, the name she gave me is the exact opposite. After all, why name me Suzaku, the Guardian on the South? Why name me Suzaku and hide my royalty with the name ‘Ash’ if not to once again take the throne under the name of the royal family.

“Why now?” I asked her as I hugged her tightly.

“Time is running short, Suzaku.” She whispered, her eyes flickering to the door. “Hide inside the shrine, go!”

I didn’t care if it was considered blasphemy. The shrine was small about the size of a shed. Running inside, I hastily bowed and silently clapped. Then, I held my breath and closed my eyes.

_Oh Talia, please keep my mother safe!_

Praying is a lost cause. After all, it says in the backstory, the mother dies and Ash lives in Beldalle, bullied and ostracized. But since the backstory changed, why can’t this. I bit my lip to keep my cries from coming out, tears flowing down my face in an unending steam.

Mother was different from the mother of my past life. She was like the warmth of the morning sun while my past life’s mother was warm like a campfire. Mother never questioned my weirds habits or when I asked her to use the gender neutral Varin words on me. She accepted these with a smile and a fond look in her eyes.

I love her. I don’t want to see her die. I don’t want to pick up her dead body in the next morning. I- I simply didn’t want to accept this fact.

_Talia, daughter of Lirio, bringer of light and champion of good. I apologize for such blasphemy and will offer you 50 seraphs as an offering._

Steadying my breath, I focused on praying to Talia.

To my surprise, I lived to see the sunrise, having fallen asleep in the shrine. Perhaps it’s Talia’s will or simply my luck. But I stood up, payed to her in thanks for protecting me, and went back to the house.

Once I opened the doors, I found my mother’s body stabbed and her horns cut off. I bit my lip, knowing that if I didn’t handle this carefully, I could easily become the village pariah for matricide. So I took a deep breath and I screamed.

Loudly.

This woke up the neighbors for sue but I run out with not so fake tears in my eyes. “Somebody! Anybody! Please…”

A kind old lady came up to me, “What’s the matter dear?”

“I, It’s my mother, she’s been killed!”

The words flew out of my mouth and saying it out loud causes me to shudder.

I lift a hand to my mouth. “Oh Talia…”

The old woman gazed at me with concern. So I lied to her and told her my alibi. I was away because of a rite of passage that had me praying at the shrine for the entire night. When I went back to the house, I couldn’t believe it.

Her old, watery eyes held pity and began helping me arrange a funeral.

I told her that what they had to do was prepare the coffin and help with the procession. I’ll handle the preparation of the body. After all, it’s only proper. Biting my lip, I went back inside, and covered the shrine.

First, I have to wash the lips.

My hand moved with the wet cloth, swiping her lips that didn’t smile. Rigor mortis must have set in since the body is so stiff. I then moved to bathe the body, stripping my mother of her clothing with shaking hands. I struggle to set her in the tub I had prepared.

The water turns red from the dried off blood. There should be a white robe for her around…

After I clothed her as appropriately as possible, I set her on the bed.

She looks so peaceful. Laying there with a calm face, her ink black hair fanning out behind her like the night sky. The image feels so wrong though when I look at where her horns used to be. I bit my lip. All I can hope is that she died painlessly and that her horns were cut after.

Ah, I still need to pray…

Two weeks later, I’ve done everything I needed to do. The first week was dedicated to the funeral. While in Shika tradition, the more important the person the quicker the funeral so as lay the person to rest as fast as could be done, my mother sadly had to wait a week before being buried.

After the funeral had been finished, I had to cleanse myself in the beach, trying to forget the stink of dried blood and the image in my head. I wanted to remember my mother’s smiling face or the gentle voice she used to sing to me.

_“Arisha, Arisha, ayoyi mo solia.”_

The Shika language was odd. It sounds so much like Japanese but still held its own touch. The distinctive ‘L’, the flexible word order to add emphasis, and the very different words… Ah I’m trying to distract myself, with a sigh I gazed into the reflection of the water, pushing aside my bangs to reveal the red cherry blossom printed on my face.

“Stupid cherry blossom, stupid game, stupid plot,” I scowled. “Why did it have to be like this?”

The backgrounds were simple and straightforward. I thought that would be it and then suddenly I’m sitting here stuck with a court drama kind of plot. The lapping waves splashed against my face, maybe that’s Rinka telling me to keep moving forward.

Or maybe she’s telling me to get out of her ocean.


	2. Rabbits are Friends, Not Food

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ash meets a certain Cubi after moving to Beldalle.

Moving to Beldalle was…lonely.

Everyone regarded me as an oddity. That’s to be expected since Shika are seen as a rarity. The house I moved into is fairly sized, I don’t mind it. I managed to move all my things inside. The shrine is set up properly with a side table as a memorial to my mother. I’ve moved in the clothing I got from her as well as furniture.

Everything’s ready and set up.

Slumping in my chair, I sighed and regarded the empty house. It feels so…empty. No singing from my mother, no one to talk to, no one but little old me.

Taking out my flute, I lifted it up and began to play. Maybe that can push aside the loneliness. The flute’s song echoed through the house and I allowed myself to close my eyes and pretend. I pretended that my mother is still alive. I pretended that Rai never existed. I pretended that my mother was sitting here, listening to this lament for her.

As if the sad song was done by the pied piper, I opened my eyes and found children at the windows, staring at me with curiosity.

I frowned and stopped playing. Talia’s light, don’t they know staring as people is rude?

* * *

By the next day, the word had spread through Beldalle of a Shika who moved in. So does it surprise me that once I stepped outside of my house in order to properly meet my neighbors that a certain Cubi flirts with me?

“Hello there, gorgeous.” He smiled at me.

I turned away from him. That messy pink hair and that lone pink eye, he’s dressed as a cherry blossom. There’s no way I couldn’t see that he’s Paris.

“Oh, I guess you aren’t aware of your beauty, miss.” He kept walking.

I turn to him and raise an eyebrow. “Who are you?”

With a deep chuckle, he replied, “My name is Paris Burr, a pleasure to meet such a refined young lady such as yourself.”

“Sorry to burst your bubble, Paris, but I’m not female nor male.” I replied cryptically, regarding the last ‘neighbor warming presents’ I had.

The presents I had prepared were food. Since it was apple season, I figured I could make them apple pies the Shika way. So far my neighbors were pleasantly surprised by the pies, hopefully that can warm me up to Beldalle easier, especially since I have no intention of taking up an apprenticeship as a chef.

“I don’t mind that. There are a few of us in Beldalle who are also beyond gender. Still that doesn’t dampen your beauty.” Paris grinned.

I reached the final door, handing them the pie with a bow and a friendly greeting while Paris stood by. I ignored him in favor of saying a few words, complimenting the person, acting sweet and gentle. Once the neighbor finally closed the door, I turned around and walked back to my home.

“Ash…” Paris mumbled, “What a pretty name for one as elegant as yourself.”

I sighed and turned around. “There are plenty of people on this island, why don’t you try and bed them instead?”

“Oh but you are not just beautiful, Ash. Your eyes are bright like rubies and your hair as dark as ink.” He grinned at me, reaching out a handshake.

“I’m not one to be easily tricked, Paris. If your only goal is to bed me then go away,” I said, waving my hands at him.

He reached out to grab my hand, cause me to shiver. The sensitivity of Shika hands made the action jarring like he forced himself on me. Without thinking, I punched him in the stomach with tears gathering in my eyes.

“Touch my hands again and I’ll send you to the healer!” I scowled at him, marching away to my house.

Shuddering, I massaged my own hand, despite it only being the equivalent to a kiss, why do I feel so…wronged?

* * *

The next day, I was writing down my finances to see how much I had left. The funeral had been helpfully paid off by the kind people of Belcat who saw a poor young child left alone in this world. Looking at the seraphs, a frowned tugged my lips, I think I’ll continue counting these later…

I still need to befriend Paris but punching him was… It was a bit much wasn’t it? I knew he would flirt with me and my plan was to deny him a bit and then slowly warm up to him until we became friends.

A knocking alerted me and I opened it to find Paris, holding flowers with a sorry look on his face.

“Ahaha, sorry for yesterday. I pushed too far. Er, I got some flowers to make up for it!” He offered them and with surprise, I took it.

“Ah… Thank you, Paris.” I glanced at the empty house. “Why don’t you come inside?”

He perked up, Cubi ears going up. It’s kind of cute…“I’d like that!’

“Don’t take that as an invitation for something more. I… I only want a friend.” I closed the door, behind him. “Please take off your shoes before entering.”

He did as told and walked into the place with wide eyes- or well, eye. I don’t get what’s so different about my house compared to everything else, especially since he used to work for Reavers. I’m sure he’s already seen better things than this.

“So this is where you live,” He hummed, “It’s a nice place.”

“Thank you. Have a seat, I was just ready to work on dinner. Do you have any food preferences?” I was in the mood for chicken and eggs.

He smiled, for once not looking at all flirtatious, “I’d like something vegetarian please.”

Ah right, rabbit. I checked my fruits and vegetables. “Would you like a stir fry?”

He nodded his head, rabbit ears perking up.

While I was cooking, he watched intently as if judging how I cooked. Which he most likely is, since he could already be undergoing his apprenticeship. Once dinner was ready, I gave him his food and sat in front of him.

“While I may not be interested in a romantic relationship or a one night stand, I’d like to have a friend.”

He blinked, “After yesterday, you’re willing to be my friend?”

“I admit, punching you was out of line. So I’d be surprised if you want to be mine.” I flicked my hair back.

His smile went from friendly to flirtatious as he said, “Oh I’d love to be yours.”

Rolling my eyes I replied, “My _friend_ , Paris. Way to ruin the moment,”

“You know, you pack a strong punch. I was surprised with how fast you moved and even more surprised by the strength. For a person who looks so thin and pretty, you’re surprisingly strong.” Parris commented and I shrugged.

“I train regularly. Its hard work and pretty tiring but it’s worth it.”

With a wink that looked odd with his one eye, he said, “Oh I know what else can make you tired.”

We stared at one another.

“Pfft….” I moved to cover my mouth.

His mouth started twitching. “It’s not that funny, Ash.”

“Is too, did you seriously think that one eye wink was smooth?” I moved my bangs to cover my other eye and mimicked him.

“Alright, I’ll admit it was stupid. Or maybe it just looks stupid on you.” Paris suggested, his eye narrowing at me.

“Says the guy who was curled up on the ground yesterday.” I snorted at him.

“Hey! That was a fo-ul.” His voice cracked at the last word.

…

I snorted and he snickered.

In that moment we burst into laughter that had me tearing up. Our joy bouncing off the walls and making my house look brighter than before. Looks like I got my friend, I glanced at the picture of my mom smiling. I’m sure she’d like Paris if she was here.

* * *

The sweet years of being a teen passed by as I spent my time with Paris, training, praying to the gods, playing the flute and some other things. My income mainly came from me playing music but not many people were willing to hire a Shika to play some music and my pay was definitely struggling to call itself decent since it varied from performance to performance.

By the time Paris owned his own restaurant, I finally got a stable job as entertainment there.

I made my own clothes because I’ll be damned if I go and wear whatever it was that Shika Ash did. Like no offense, the clothes designs are good and all but it made Ash look like the poorest of the bunch and that includes the ‘rumpled hobo’ aesthetic that Paris has. Seeing as this time, I’m not just ‘some Shika’ but hidden royalty. I have to look good.

If only for my own sanity.

Luckily, I had the clothing of my mother to base my own handiwork of off. Her clothing reminded me of the Hanfu clothing though a bit more stylized. So I took some inspiration from there and designed it to be practical though perhaps I may have had some inspiration from those ninja anime I watched as a kid.

Red is in fact my favorite color, so maybe I should also give thanks to Inuyasha for some of the clothing inspiration.

* * *

Life was alright in Beldalle. Paris had his vegan restaurant and I had my livelihood playing music in there as entertainment. Technically, I worked for him but we both just split the money since half of the customers come back to listen to the music.

That’s when the taxes really started hitting hard.

I had to cut offerings out of my budget and instead keep up with prayers. Customers started coming in less and less as people slowly left Solan. Hunger gnawed but I forged on, hoping that my music would bring people in. Paris and I looked at our funds and the few people left in Solan before deciding to high tail it out to New Trinity.

I could see a resentment for the crown in Paris growing by the day as we packed up our things, packed up our seraphs and left.

The things I brought happened to be all the clothing I owned so that I could sell it in New Trinity, my own personal items, the picture of my mother, and all the seraphs I had left. Which was in total, two bags to carry.

One bag held all the items I intended to sell, having calculated the price and placed papers in order to remember their individual prices.

I have a feeling that King Baxter overtaxed us a little _too_ early.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This marks the end of staying in Solan. There wasn't much to do and I was eager to get the show on the road. At first I was going to add more interactions between Ash and Paris but I decided to leave that for the journey. Haha, I actually have like 5 chapters ready but I'll be updating this one by one since I like to put in at least some effort instead of shoving it all at once, you know? 
> 
> As for the whole punching thing, according to canon, Shika Ash had no friends other than Paris and Paris was the first one to go up to them if only to flirt. Somehow Shika Ash punched him and then they became friends.


	3. Opening Scene

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Black Gamble on a Boat almost leads to fist fight but they still haven't arrived to New Trinity.

Individually, Paris and I had about a five hundred seraphs. If you subtract the boat fees, the fees we’ll have to pay for food and the fees for the inn, we’d be hard pressed if we could stay in New Trinity for more than a few days.

That is, if I hadn’t taken all the clothing left by my mother with the intention of selling it. Reserving a spot in the market or going under the guide of a merchant or a tailor will be no trouble.

Being on the boat was fine but Paris was the type to get seasick so he focused his efforts on bedding the next tasty snack he saw. I was too busy writing things down in the finances and sleeping the day away to gamble on the first day. But once day two arrived, I cheerfully joined a game of Black Gamble.

My luck was pretty good, having won two games in a row.

“Man I’m good!” I grinned as the others on the table glared at me.

“Oh don’t get your hopes up you horned menace!” The Reaver growled at me.

Hmph, talk about Shika discrimination.

“Look your anger in me is misplaced. I’m nobody special. By the time the sun rises tomorrow, you would have forgotten all about me.” I replied with a shrug.

“Enough of that, what’s your bet?” the Cubi sailor asked, with an unamused scowl.

With a laugh, I said, “Two threes down or my mum’s the Queen!”

Technically, my mother is a princess from the royal family of Shika but eh, details.

“Argh!” One of the sailors shouted. I snickered at their frustration and quickly shoved the pot of seraphs into my bag.

I don’t want them rolling away now. Thank Talia I still remember this important piece of information. Who knew that staring at this exact intro for more than nine times was so worth it?

“Thank you for your time, and for your seraphs!”

“Hey!” The Reaver shouted, “Somethin’ ain’t right!”

“This is the third time you cleaned house,” the Cubi pointed out.

I smiled smugly at them, “Are you implying anything, my good sirs?”

The Reaver reaches out for my wrist and I narrowed my eyes at him. “Oh? Now you’re just plain disrespectful. You should be thrown in the brig for this!”

“You filthy little-!” With gritted teeth, the sailor let go of me but only to take a swing at me.

 _Bad idea,_ I thought with a smile. Moving out of the way, I placed my hand on his back and gave him a strong push, causing him to crash on his face.

The Cubi sailor sat back up and rubbed his face before turning away from me. I guess he decided it wasn’t worth the fight. Sadly, the Reaver had other plans.

“Come over here you little-”

The hull of the ship dipped with the waves, sea spraying on his face. I laughed at him causing him to get redder with anger. Honestly, I’ve never seen someone as hot headed as this grungy looking guy.

“I see we have a misunderstanding- Woah there!” I dodge another punch aimed at me, my hand catching his wrist and pulling it as I moved out of his way. “Careful now or someone could hurt.”

He recovered quickly and gabbed the lapels of my clothing. His furious eyes burning a hole into my head as he growled, “No one cheats me, got it? Especially not some Shika devil! You fork over your stolen seraphs, got it?”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “I _won_ it fair and square.”

“I call bullshit.” Man, his breath stinks. I wrinkled my nose at this.

“Your breath smells like bullshit!”

He lets out growl at the back of his throat and aims to punch me. Still smiling at him, I move to counteract this only for Paris to walk in.

“Is there a problem?” He asks, a hand on his wide open shit and a sultry smile on his face.

I looked at him with a pout. Aw, and here I was looking forward to beating this guy’s ass.

“Yeah, there’s a problem. This horned menace tried to cheat me!” The Reaver’s grip relaxes. Maybe he thinks Paris will help him out.

Stepping closer, Paris gives him a sunny smile. “You’re going to let them go, aren’t you?”

“O-oi…” The Reaver spluttered. “You’re- You’re using that Cubi stuff on me, aren’t you?”

I snorted. As if they have a weird attraction pheromone. Paris has been rejected a few times, or well, once. Looking at Paris’ ‘tits out’ shirt, messy hair and flirtatious eyes, he has getting laid down to a ‘T’. As much as I tried to warn people away out of fear he might contract some stds, it seems he always came out clean.

Hmph, he says he ain’t a rabbit but with all the serial ‘tasting’ he does, he may as well own up to it.

“Do you want me to?” His voice gained a purr, it would have been hot if it was anyone else.

That seemed to do it. He let go off me and his eyes flickered from me to Paris, or well specifically his mouth. Stumbling back, he runs with his tail between his legs. I waved at his retreat with a sunny smile.

“I do believe you owe me a favor,” Paris said with a smug smile, the earlier flirtatious growl in his voice falling back to his usual milky smoothness.

“For what? You and I both know I can handle him perfectly well.” I scowled.

He rolled his eye at me. “I got you from causing even more trouble on the boat. I’d rather not have to be tossed off the ship for a fist fight.”

Shrugging, I crossed my arms. “Anyway, weren’t you flirting with someone a while ago? I don’t owe you a favor and you won’t have to worry about me telling her you flirted with someone else behind her back.”

He gave me a nasty look. “Fine.”

The boat bobbed on the waves, causing him to squint his eye, “Ugh, anyway we’re an hour away from New Trinity. So I’m going to see if Giselle would be willing to spend that last hour with me.”

And with that he left.

I shook my head, typical Paris, disaster bi extraordinaire.

Looking out at the sea, I thought of my mother. I’m sure she’d be proud of who I am.

_Just you wait mother, I’ll rise to fame, get revenge for you and take the phoenix throne as ours once more._

My hand lifted up to touch the flower mark. Paris may have seen it but he doesn’t know the gravity of it. He thinks it’s some Shika tattoo or something and I never explained it to him. But I’ll have to be careful, after all Rafael would know it the moment he sees it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Transition chapters! Love them and hate them, either way since this is a transition chapter, I'll also put up chapter four to make up for it. I'm currently working on chapter 8 because this game is a lot longer than you expect but them again this is like thee hours or so worth of content without including descriptions and the like. Plus I'm basically slogging through the two week ocean travels since the interesting stuff happens on the mainland. Also have I mentioned Rafael's theme is a bop because it is. I've also been in the dilemma of having another separate version of this but it's Braums/Suzaku what do you think? *cricket noises* Thank you!
> 
> For real though, thank you for even bothering to read this, and thank you me for wanting to read this!


	4. A Scammer's Guide to Guild Making

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That's right, our beloved Suzaku finally makes a guild, meeting our awkward assassin Rafael in the process. But they still haven't gotten the job yet, so Braums, please keep on denying people for the good of everyone involved!

We arrived in New Trinity, passing over the many canals and found an inn named ‘Aoi’. But to my surprise, no flyer on the side about Braums’ escort mission. Hmm, that’s strange. I guess we really did come here early.

The inn cost us twenty seraphs, so we just stayed in a room together. Sighing, I bought out the bag and looked at the ‘merchandise’.

Putting his hand on my shoulder, Paris frowned. “I’m sorry you have to do this, Ash. I know how much your mother means to you.”

“She’d understand. She always did.”

* * *

In one week, I managed to sell everything, earning me an additional two thousand seraphs. I set aside some of the money for weapon shopping. A portion of it was also dedicated to our food as Paris worked part time at the inn so that our lodging would be free as employees.

Luckily, we managed to get a window of time so I brought Paris with me to the weapons shop.

“Alright, how much for the throwing knives?”

“That would be two hundred seraphs including the sheath belt.” The person who owned the store happened to be a rather burly Cubi. With a grin he gave me a once over, “Lost all your weapons?”

“Nah, I sold them to get better quality ones. The iron was poor and it chipped easily. But that’s what I get for going for the cheap stuff,” I sighed. Paris stood behind me, looking around the place as he looked at sheathed swords from cutlasses to claymores. There’s a section for bows with a label above, ‘crossbow’, ‘long bow’, ‘two stone bow’ and so on.

“I get ya,” The Cubi chuckled as he handed me the belt as well as the blades. “Since this is your first time here, how about I give ya a little discount? The blades ae a league better than whoever you bought your last stuff from.”

“That would be great! Do you have a place for testing?” I have to keep in mind the fact that Braums would be intimidated so I need to have something that looks friendly. Ergo, a ninjato might work, a quarterstaff too, the daggers are a given since I can just hide it.

“That I do. The daggers are sharpened, so that would be one hundred seraphs. Anything else?” Man this shop keeper is really friendly! I wonder if it’s because he saw Paris… Anyway, I handed over the money to him and began looking around.

“Hmm, do you have any quarterstaffs or ninjato? If not then, perhaps a sickle-chain?” I turned to Paris. “What do you think?”

Paris blinked at being put on the spot and rubbed his head. “Hey, you’re the fighting expert. I’m just a chef!”

The Cubi let out a laugh at this as he set down the requested weapons and then some. He even placed a nunchaku, a pair of Sais, a pair of tonfas and a bow with arrows. “I’m guessing you’re the type that prefers speed and mobility so bigger swords would be useless. There’s a training room in the back if you want to test it out.”

“Thank you, Paris think you could help carry them to the back?” I grinned, grabbing the ninjato, slinging the bow and quiver over my shoulder and putting the knives around my belt.

Paris followed along, though a lot more carefully since he’s holding weapons.

* * *

By the end, Paris was rather pale as he looked at all the things I’ve done and I looked at my sorted pile. One side held the weapons I liked, such as the tonfas, a sickle-chain, and a ninjato. The other side held the weapons I didn’t like, namely the nunchaku, the bow and arrows, and the pair of Sais. I placed the quarter staff in the center as a ‘maybe’.

“What do you think?” I grinned.

“Uh, I don’t know you pretty much wrecked the place, Ash.” He rubbed a hand on the back of his neck. “Suddenly, I’m grateful you only punched me when we were kids…”

“I’m partial to the tonfas, but a ninjato would be useful wouldn’t it?” I frowned and looked at them only for the shop owner to speak up.

“Say, how ‘bout you pay for the tonfas and I hand you the ninjato for free? In actuality, a Shika came in, telling me that was a freshly forged ninjato but he needed to get rid of it for some reason. No one knew much on how to handle it since it seems to be a local Shika weapon until you came along.” The Cubi grinned.

And with that, I brought home a belt of daggers, a ninjato and tonfas that I had strapped on the inside of my arm. The straps come loose if I push against it using the tonfas. Hehe, this time Rafael won’t be the only one taking the spotlight when the ship is attacked.

“You know Ash, you’re pretty scary when you want to be…” Paris sighed as we headed to the inn.

That’s when we saw it. A flyer that detailed an escort mission to the capital with a reward of 7 thousand silver seraphs. I grinned as Paris read it.

“Adventurers must have it great.” He sighed.

“… Hey actually…” I looked at the ninjato on my waist and then at the flyer.

“No.” He glared.

“How about we…”

“No.”

I giggled, clapping my hands in delight. “It’ll be perfect! I know how to fight and you can just charm the employer, it’ll be brilliant!”

“We are _not_ making a guild, Ash!” Paris hissed at me. “Are you crazy?”

“Think about it, at this rate you’d take years before you could afford a place to set up a new restaurant and I’ve already ran out of the things I set aside to sell. With this however, we’d make a killing!” I grinned and snatched the flyer, “Okay so we need a third and then we’ll make a guild for this!”

“Where would we even get a third for your scam?” Paris crossed his arms.

“In the Guild HQ of course,” I replied smugly. “Some people prefer to adventure alone but the flyer specifically stated ‘guild’. Besides, if it doesn’t work we can always sell the badge.”

Knowing he can’t stop me from doing this, he sighed. “Alright, fine. We’ll do it but I doubt we’d be hired when we’re put up against _actual_ adventurers.”

“You’d be surprised, Pear.” I grinned.

Once we headed to the HQ we found numerous people holding the same flyer. They’re armed to the teeth, from bows and swords to other anime-esque weapons. But well, I know Braums, he was my first character to romance in the game. Innocent, sweet, and adorable, I smile as I walked passed people. But of course, Rafael was the one who moved me to tears when I got his ‘neutral’ ending.

Now though… I have no idea if I’ll actually ever get a romance route. Not when I’m long lost Shika royalty who’s currently got a price on my own head. Taking a deep breathe, I approached Rafael with a smile.

“Greetings fellow disciple of Talia! Would you like to join my guild?” I grinned.

Rafael turned to me and examined me before nodding. “Yes.”

“Wo-”

Paris grabbed my shoulder and whispered to me, “Hey! How sure are you that it’ll be alright scamming an _actual_ adventurer?”

“He already agreed, Paris.” I hissed back at him.

Rafael glanced at them. “I assume you’re making one for the escort mission?”

“That’s right.” I bowed to him. “My name is Ash.”

He bowed back. “Rafael.”

“Do you mind if I call you ‘Fai’? Rafael is quite a mouthful.” I tilted my head at him.

He shook his head. “I do not mind.”

“Wait, wait, so you’re agreeing to this for that escort mission?” Paris scratched his head, “Huh, you’re a scam artist too.”

“No, he’s clearly an archer, now introduce yourself.” I hushed him, the line for Guild making is long and while I know we’d get the job, I’m still nervous about Braums choosing some other guild out necessity.

Paris sighed but didn’t reach out for a handshake, good bunny. He actually learned. “I’m Paris.”

With that out of the way, we finally headed to the City Hall in order to make our guild.

* * *

“New guild?” The Cubi asked, looking more done with his life, as if he’s worked in retail instead of the city hall.

“Yep!” I smiled cheerfully.

He gathered the papers and handed it to me. “Fill these up then get back in line.”

I turned around look at the line. Ah, still long, “Are you serious?”

“I think he’s serious.” Paris frowned with me.

You know, they should make a separate booth for the finished paperwork of Guild registration. “He can’t be serious.”

“He said, ‘next’.” Bless Rafael and his honesty. He’s such a cutie.

“Right, let’s go.” I sighed, moving to sit on the floor seeing as the tables are all full. “Anyone got a pen?”

Paris, as expected of the lazy bastard, immediately denied while Rafael handed me one.

“Oh, I like a man who comes prepared.” He sided up to Rafael, with a flirty smile on his facemask his voice dropped to a husky purr.

In a flash he’s on the floor, Rafael stepping on his back as a hand twisted his arm in an uncomfortable angle.

“Argh! Get him off me!” Paris shouted

I rolled my eyes and waved him off, “Don’t mind him everybody, they’re always like this.”

“Look, I’m sorry alright? I was just being friendly!” He groaned, his hand slapping the floor.

Rafael relaxed his hold of Paris in an instant and Paris rubbed his wrist with an exasperated look on his face. “Damn, what is it with you Shika and hurting me the moment I flirt with you?”

“I apologize, you caught me off guard.” Rafael said, having the decency to apologize immediately.

“I suggest you learn not to get all up in anyone’s space unexpectedly.” I squatted down to Paris’ level. “Fai, he’s always been a flirt, I apologize on his behalf.”

Rafael nodded his head. “I see.”

And with that, I focused on filling out the papers. Specifically, the guild name. Hmm, should I go for ‘The Pretenders Guild’ like the game? I snickered, yeah that would be a great joke.

“’The Pretenders Guild’?” Paris glared at me, “Isn’t that a little incriminating?”

Pouting, I told him, “Shut up, it’s a great name!”

“Fine, whatever. We need to get back quickly or else we’ll be done by the time the sun sets.”

With the papers filled, we just had to submit it and get our badge. Our badge happened to be the shape of a shield, with a black crystal and the Shika symbol in white. And now, I sighed as I looked at the line once again, to line up.

* * *

Registration was easy after handing in the papers, the badge was handed to us and we began to head to the Cornflower inn.

“Alright so remember, we’ll split the money into three, and disband the guild after the mission in order to avoid the guild tax.” I grinned.

Paris sighed at me, “Ash, you sound like a scammer.”

“Yes.” Rafael said suddenly.

We blinked at him. “What?”

“You said we’ll split the money into three. I agree to those terms.”

Have I ever told you guys how much I love Rafael? Because I do. He’s such a sweet guy for an assassin. As we walked, we passed by a bakery. I guess I’ll indulge in this small cut scene if only to warm them up better.

That and to cheer them up. Paris does seem to be in a mood from Fai’s rejection but I’m sure he’ll be in a better mood after this.

“You get a hold of Fai, I’m getting us some food.”

The bakery is just as described. Good looking pastries, though a distinct lack of Traditional Shika food, the bubbly Cubi who’d give you a discount if you were a Cubi and the merchandise. The scent of freshly baked bread warms my heart.

I grabbed a meat bun for myself, which would be three seraphs, a melon bread for Paris which is two seraphs, and the chocolate bread which is also two seraphs. Together, it made one silver seraph. Hehe, thinking about the prize money I did the mental calculation.

7 thousand silver seraphs, a happy ending which would be a ceremony for escorting the Prince back to his home safely, and perhaps a dead king! Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that _I_ want to kill the king! That would be Rai.

Braums wouldn’t blame me or Paris for the king’s death. King Baxter was an asshole anyway. I have no doubt Braums would be a good king seeing as he actually cares. Plus it would be easier for me if he takes the throne since Braums wouldn’t allow Anti-Shika sentiments to ruin our alliance once I take backe _my_ throne.

I paid the Cubi and handed each of them their food.

“Melon bread for Paris,” I grinned as he smiled back at me.

“Thanks.”

“And chocolate bread for Fai!” I handed it to him. “I hope you like it, you seem like a chocolate kind of guy.”

Ah, seeing Rafael being so happy over the chocolate bread made me smile. Or well, he looks more awkward than happy but considering he has no idea how to emote properly, I’m calling him happy.

“I’m happy I managed to express my love for chocolate so plainly.” He said, bringing it close to his chest. “Thank you.”

That little ‘thank you’ made my heart flutter a bit. It’s so soft and kind. He’s so sweet. Ugh, I swear I think I might not survive this trip on the sole reason that Braums will be cute and Fai will be sweet.

Talia, I’m probably screwed.

By the time we reached Cornflower Inn, the sun has begun to set. But the bustling sounds of various guilds made me grin, oh Braumsy, you predictable cutie.

I got in and wrote in the guild’s name. Then I turned to the closest guy and asked him, “Hey where’s the end of the line? And how long has this been going for.”

The Reaver eyed us, and said, “Line ends over there. Our employer’s in the back room but I won’t hold my breath if I was you. He’s been turning down everybody, even the Seven Sins!”

I made a shocked look, “He turned down the Seven Sins?”

“Aye he did. I don’t get why especially with all these assassins running around.” At those words, my eyes flickered to Rafael almost unconsciously. Assassins running around, probably Rai’s men.

He shot us a look and glanced at Paris. “You don’t look much like an adventurer. The two Shikas, I can see, but you?”

I scoffed. “He prefers fist fights like the barbarian he is. C’mon boys, we’re waiting in line.”

For a moment I wondered if Rafael was the one who killed my mother before shaking it off. He’s around my age so he was most likely still training to be the next Grim Reaper.

“Assassin activity died out after the Second War, so why now?” I hummed.

“Rumor has it that someone placed a price on the king’s head.” Rafael informed us, his voice as gentle as river water.

Paris shrugged, “I wouldn’t be surprised.”

Once we settled in waiting, Rafael stood up. “You bought me bread so I’ll buy you drinks.”

Ah yes, tea would be perfect right now, if only to soothe my nerves as my mind swirled with doubts. Compared to the game’s Ash, I look like an adventurer with my weapons. My clothing looks similar to a Touken Ranbu rip off but with the hakama ending at my knees. The tonfas are hidden in my obi on my back and my ninjato is in plain view, meanwhile I have hair hiding the flower print on my face.

Paris still seems upset. I frowned, “Cheer up a bit Paris, there’s still plenty of people you know?”

He sighed, “…I guess so.”

Rafael comes back with warm mugs of tea. With a smile I thanked him and held it in my hands. Warm tea on my sensitive hands, how lovely. Paris may be disappointed by the lack of alcohol but he drinks it anyway.

The taste of tea had me smiling, from the scent and the color it must be oolong. “Oolong tea, good choice. Though my favorite has to be Jasmine. What about you?”

“…Chocolate.” Rafael answered.

Paris shot him a look. “But isn’t it a little too sweet?”

Rafael gave him a look as if he committed the gravest sin in the world. “How can it be too sweet? I do not understand.”

Paris lifted his hands up in a peace sign, “It is for me.”

I laughed at their interaction.

Now to wait…


	5. You're Hired!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Braums hires the very suspicious Pretenders Guild. Suzaku can only hope that things go as planned.
> 
> … What is the plan anyway?

“Next!” a person called out as another guild sighed in defeat. So far, I’ve seen the most anime looking guilds come in and go out.

One had a Cubi with a battle axe, another had a Reaver wielding one of those ridiculous bag swords and this guild that came out had a Shika holding a sword that looks a lot like Masamune. Now it’s our turn and tried to make myself look as unintimidating as possible. First off, I put on a sweet smile, covered the handle of my blade with my sleeve and walked in with confidence.

Entering the door and closing it behind us, I could see Braums looking tired but putting a show of being unimpressed. I could see the little green emblem of royalty cleverly disguised to look like leaves as pearls are strung across his chest.

Perhaps my silence was too long because Rafael spoke for us. “We are the Pretenders Guild. Nice to meet you.”

“Yes, nice to meet you, I’m Ash, the leader of the guild. The Cubi is Paris and my fellow Shika is Rafael.”

Paris shook himself out of his stupor and bowed. “It’s a pleasure to be in the presence of a gentleman such as yourself,”

Braums nodded, “As you should.”

…Cute, trying to assert himself but still unsure how. I guess he’s too used to folding to the pressure of his father.

“And one so handsome too,” Paris gave him a sunny smile.

Seeing the flush on Braums cheeks, I tried my best not to squeal at how cute he is. “Tell me since when was your guild established?”

“We-”

Sorry Fai, but I have to make my unintimidating speech. “What you should be asking is how good our performance is, my lord. To which I say, we will guarantee you a one 137% chance of success. We have never failed a mission and can also guarantee quality treatment of our clients.”

Braums blinked, “137%?”

“That would be correct, my lord.” I kept my voice steady, and even bowed. Does this look unintimidating enough? _I am as weak as a rat. I am as weak as a rat. I am as weak as a rat._

Braums’ fingers tapped on the wood in contemplation. I held my breath in waiting. Braums please accept this. I’ve literally been waiting for this moment-

“Alright, you’re hired.”

I blinked and straighten myself up.

He tilted his head, dark blue hair moving to the side. “I am Braums, I trust the reward of 7 thousand silver seraphs will suffice?”

“Indeed it will, my lord.” I replied, a sweet smile on my face.

“Good, you can tell the other brutes to go away now.” Braums waved a hand.

Turning to Rafael and Paris, I grinned and poked my head out of the door. “Job’s taken guys, you can go home now!”

Many groans filled the inn as people trickled out. The bartender tried to convince them to stay for another but in the end the inn was left bare and empty. Looking at it now, it really is a pricey inn.

Braums poked his head out, “Are they gone?”

I nodded my head and he left the room, “Good, I want you to come back here at sunrise, my boat leaves around that time. Don’t be late.”

He leaves for his room and I pick up the letter, ah this must be the one for his father.

“Ash, are you coming?” Paris shouted.

“Yeah! I just need to return something.” I replied, tuning around to find Braums standing there with a neutral look on his face.

Ah, he looks so cute, I wonder what he’ll look like once he stats smiling.

“That would be mine.” He said, and I handed it to him.

“Here you go, Lord Braums.” I smiled at him, “I wish you a good night’s sleep.”

He nodded his head, “Thank you.”

And with that, I rushed outside and jumped in the air, throwing myself at Paris as he spun me around.

“We’re gonna be rich!” I laughed. “Let’s go drinking!”

“With alcohol!” Paris grinned.

“Yep! But not too much cause we have a job to do!” I pumped my fist into the air. “…Uh, you can let go of me now.”

“Right, of course.” He set me down and cleared his throat.

The shining moonlight reflecting off the canal’s water seemed to celebrate with me. Goodbye, New Trinity, it was nice knowing you but our relationship was temporary.

I looked at Rafael, “Do you have a place to stay? If not why not join us at our inn for celebration?”

“I’d like to join you, I have yet to find a place to stay the night.” Rafael admitted and I threw him a bright smile.

“Wonderful! I look forward to working with you, Fai!”

* * *

The next day we arrived at the inn, Rafael looking just as pretty as ever, as if he never passed out from a single glass. Man, lightweights are lucky they don’t spend so much money getting drunk. I smiled to myself, speaking of which I wasn’t that far behind him. Maybe it’s a Shika thing?

“Man, last night was great.” Paris stretched.

For a guy with such defined muscles, he’s the least dangerous among the three of us. I snickered at that thought. “Yeah, it was fun.”

We waited a few minutes for Braums to come out.

“It’s good to see you actually came.” He noted, “Food and lodging will be handled by me. Your job is to keep me safe. If there is so much as a hair out of place, you will be severely punished.”

Seeing as this was an escort job, it was obvious we had to bring our things. Plus, Paris had to drop his job at the inn. Luckily, I already sold everything I needed to, leaving me with only a single bag worth of stuff.

The carriage arrived as stated and I took a moment to look at it with awe. I’ve never rode a carriage before. A big grin grew on my face, this is going to be so cool!

Braums dashed inside the carriage, Paris following suite, I entered in a more sedate pace with Rafael coming in last. With the morning light streaming through the windows, I can’t help but look at everything with bright eyes. It’s all so dream like.

Here I am, finally at the start of the game. Anxiety curled as I thought of the endings of the game. The king dies in Braums’ good endings as well as Paris’ ending. He doesn’t die in both of Fai’s endings, as well as Braums’ neutral ending where Fai is hanged for attempted assassination of the king.

Of all the endings, that’s the one that unsettled me the most.

My eyes flicked to the peaceful Rafael who gazed out the window. He seems so peaceful with the gentle golden light of the dawn touching upon his features. His pale green hair resembles the leaves of a tree in the sunlight and his honest black eyes shined like onyxes.

My heart squeezed at the sight. I don’t want to watch him get hanged to death. Especially when Lorelai is also in danger. There’s a lot riding at stake on this mission and the only ones who knows it are Rafael and I.

After all, Braums is the prince, I’m the long lost heir to the phoenix throne, and Rafael’s a retired assassin whose sister is in danger. Come to think of it, Paris is the only guy whose identity isn’t something of a secret. The thought of that made me snort.

“-You’ll want them eventually.”

The sound of Paris’ usual flirting made me blink. Oh right, I should probably have him calm down or else Braums would be too flustered. “Uh, Paris, down boy.”

Braums cleared his throat, “Thank you…er, what are your names again?”

I smiled pleasantly at him. The innocent little prince must have been overwhelmed. “My name is Ash.”

“And my name is Paris.” He winked.

Braums’ eyes lit up. Shining and bright, like a blue star, so pretty. “Like the Cubi general who stood his ground in the fort of Yale?”

“You sure know your history,” Paris complimented

“Of course.” Came the haughty reply of Braums.

Paris shrugged. “It was my dad’s idea.”

“Pear, I didn’t know you were named after a general.” I smirked at him. “I always thought you had a weird name.”

“What are you laughing at? You were _literally_ named after burn residue.” His pink eye narrowed in his usual ‘I’m so done with you’ look.

I pouted at him. “I’ll have you know that my mother named me ‘Ash’ after the tale of the sacred phoenix of Talia. The phoenix sacrificed itself to protect Talia and burst into ashes. Touched by the phoenix’s sacrifice, she revived him and made him immortal. Hence like the phoenix, I too shall come back from any hardships I may face.”

Braums blinked, “That a very meaningful name.”

Pride at the compliment had me beaming at him. “Thank you. My mother has very good tastes.”

Rafael turned his head towards me. “Still, you are proving Paris correct. You _were_ named after burn residue, no matter how sacred it may be.”

Paris snickered at this but his eyes held something deeper, probably because he knew how much I treasured everything related to my mother. I shot him a smile. He didn’t know, so it’s alright.

I gave Rafael an amused smile. “I suppose that’s true.”

“And you’re Rafael.” The gentle voice of Braums pulled me from my thoughts.

Paris pouted and huffed, “How come you remember _his_ name?”

“I-I like the name Rafael.” Braums replied with a flush.

Rafael nodded his head, “Thank you.”

The rest of the carriage ride was spent in contemplative silence.


	6. Ocean Madness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suzaku and the gang go on a boat ride that is definitely not worth ten golden seraphs. The fish is dry, Braums isn't a missy, and this is going to be a loooong two weeks isn't it?

“You, carry my luggage!” Braums pointed at Paris as he walked off to the largest ship in the dock.

I laughed at Paris as he picked up the white bag that had purple bows on it. “Well, ‘you’, pick up the bag.”

Huffing, Paris rolled his eye at me and did as told, carrying the bag we followed Braums as he paid the sailor with a _bowtie_ of all things with ten gold seraphs. Seeing those golden seraphs, I can’t help but want to scratch my head, just how did we not know he’s the prince with how rich he was?

Then again he’s a Reaver noble so I guess we just didn’t know any better.

We follow him into the boat and watch as the crew part ways for him. It’s kind of funny to see them all move aside for someone so short. Ah, once I get my place on the throne, people will do that for me too and not just because I’m a Shika. Hehe, maybe I should ask Braums for tips for walking like royalty?

He showed us our rooms, and I examined the double decker.

“Well Ash, it looks like you’re sleeping with me.” Paris tossed me a sleazy grin.

“You better behave unless you don’t want all your limbs intact.” I smile sweetly at him.

He paled especially as he eyed my ninjato. As expected, Rafael spoke up, “Ash and I can share a bed. We’re both rather thin.”

“Thank you, Fai.” I giggled.

Braums showed his room. “Set my luggage here.”

“Do you need help, Paris?” Rafael asked as Paris struggled to keep balance.

Through gritted teeth, Paris replied, “What? No, I can handle it!”

“I only ask because-”

The bag fell with a loud thud and many expensive items were jostled around. The sound of them clattering had me wincing. After all, who knows how expensive that is?

“-Because you did not notice the precarious angle you were holding it in.” Rafael finished his sentence, a worried look on his face.

“Yeah Rafael, I got it. Thanks.” Paris deadpanned.

“You imbecile!” Braums whipped around in anger. His bright blue eyes lit like a fire. Or perhaps, swirling like a storm? This oppressive aura makes him feel like he grew two feet tall. Jabbing a finger at Paris he said, “There are items in there that are worth more than your entire family!”

Ouch.

“Be careful, pick it up!”

Paris’ ears lifted up in shock as he was jabbed once more. “Ah, my apologies, Lord Braums…”

But he quickly recovered, snatching the hand of Braums to sneak in a quick kiss. Despite seeing this scene so many times in the game, I can’t help but wonder why he thought that would make the situation better.

Braums snatched his hand back. “Unhand me! You do not have permission to touch me without my permission, am I clear?” He growled. Man, that’s a Reaver for you. Even short and cute, he still can sound so menacing.

Paris’ ears folded, “Ah…”

“Is. That. Clear.”

Huffing, Braums turned to _me_ next. “I can’t believe a guild would have a clumsy brute! What were you thinking?”

“Sorry boss, but Paris’ had a tough childhood.” Tough would be an understatement, if one considers the fact his parents were arrested and his eyes fucked up from an accident involving a lantern.

“I see.” Rafael hummed. “I’m sorry, Paris, I didn’t know you had a rough childhood. Why did you not inform me of this? I could have administered punishments for suppressing his baser needs.”

I snorted as Paris threw me a dirty look and said, “I _do not_ need help ‘suppressing my baser needs’.”

I shrugged as I looked at Rafael. “How would you go about that anyway? Spanking?”

“Spanking would be a good form of punishment.” Rafael said thoughtfully.

A grin bloomed on my face as I tried hard to fight my urge to laugh. The thought of Paris’ many future spankings made me snort. Oh Pear, this is karma for all the times you flirted with me! That’s when I heard Braums calling for us.

“Yes, my lord?” I entered his room.

“I want reports to be done daily, do you hear me?” He sat on a chair but his presence made that chair look like a throne.

_Man, I wish I was that chair._ I eyed it jealously. Especially after I thought of the Braums CG with him sitting on Ash.

“I think our ‘team leader’ can handle that.” Paris eyed me. To which I say, any chance I get to see the two (that’s right, _two,_ Paris isn’t included) jades of our guild is welcome.

“Sure. I’ll be reporting on weather conditions, the general conditions of the boat, and so on.” I replied smoothly. Generally, the pirates will come around after the storm then afterwards will be smoother sailing.

Braums waved a hand at this. “You do that then. You are dismissed.”

We leave his room and set our own things down. But it isn’t five minutes before he calls for me again.

“Get me some tea, or some water, rum as a last resort. Make sure the leaves have been steeped for three minutes.” Oh right, I kind of forgot he was also the type to get seasick. I smiled.

“Understood, boss.”

He seems surprised at how nice I am but hey, how can I not be when I remember the ending CG with him dressed as king? Maybe it’s because I already know them but I can’t help the sense of fondness I have.

Rubbing his neck, Paris pouted at the direction of Braums’ door. “I don’t think I’ll be able to charm him. How do you think he’ll react if I offer him a massage?”

The sound of a slap made me snort. Paris leapt in the air, nursing his behind as he gave Fai a glare. “Wh-Did you just-?”

Turning to see Rafael with his extended hand, I laugh spilled from my lips. He looks so serious too!

With a face as if explaining something to a child, Rafael told him, “We’re doing this to help you, Paris.”

Braums opens his door in annoyance as I laughed myself to oblivion.

“What is this ruckus?” His face adds to the hilarity.

His face is twisted like he ate a sour lemon and was forced to whistle Revaria’s national anthem.

Smothering my giggles, I waved it off. “Nothing, I-Pfft, I’ll be getting your drink.”

Ah, Rafael, you would be great in a tsukkomi duo with Paris. The thought of all the future slaps will be great. Plus, maybe he’d actually get across to Paris.

I went up on the deck and followed a pair of chatty Reavers to the mess hall before knocking on the door of the chef.

“What do you need?” The chef asked in a rouch voice. Man, hearing his voice makes me want to drink water all of a sudden.

“Excuse me, I apologize for the intrusion but may I ask for a cup of tea?” I did a little bow and hoped that my polite visage will help and if not then I can always ‘accidentally’ flash my sword or something.

The Cubi chef took in my polite image and scowled. “Don’t think that just cause yer polite I’ll be handin’ ye tea wit’ a smile now.”

“Ah, how unfortunate, the tea is ordered by my employer, Lord Braums of the King’s Court.” Name dropping will always get you somewhere, either in trouble or in a far better place.

The chef stopped at this. “…Fine, I’ll get yer tea.”

“Thank you.”

Once the tea was finished, I headed up and swiped the bucket while no one was looking. Heading down, I knocked on his door.

“Ah good, I was beginning to think you wouldn’t come back.” He said and I could see the hint of relief in his eyes.

I set the tea down on the table, “My apologies, my lord Braumsness, I simply had to take a short detour.”

He pouted as he mouthed ‘Braumsness’, “And why’s that?”

“You seemed a bit unwell on sea, so I got you this.” Handing him the bucket, I watched his eyebrows furrow.

“O-oh, I see.” He took the bucket then he looked back at me, “For a commoner, you speak like a person from the higher class.”

I stiffened. Shit, I was too busy trying to get on his good side to notice I was mimicking him! I thought being around Paris all these years would loosen my ‘rich person accent’ as Paris called it.

“… My mother, she was a Shika from the upper class but eloped with my father to Solan.” I didn’t want to lie more than necessary especially since I do want to find a way to stay friends with everyone.

Braums blinked. “I see.”

And with that, I let him be.

Damn, I’m screwed. Braums and Rafael will be the death of me. Though… I thought of how happy Paris and Braums were after the good ending of Rafael’s route. Those two will be good for each other.

…I should not be thinking about romance routes at a time like this! Get it _together,_ Suzaku! It’s not like I’ll actually get _any_ romance on this trip when I’ll probably have to deal with court drama politics in Shikan. I brought my hands to my flute and went up on the deck to play a few tunes.

_Silly Suzaku,_ I snorted to myself _, the moment your background changed is the moment everything else did._

* * *

Dinner came by soon enough and I try to remember what this scene was about… Looking at the food of the patrons, disappointment curled in my stomach. Fish wasn’t a favorite but I _don’t_ dislike it. If Ash was to be correct, this dinner will end up killing my appetite and my taste buds from blandness.

Paris groaned as he came in, green around the ears. “Ugh, I don’t think I can keep anything down.”

A quick look at Braums showed he’s worse off compared to Paris. I’m pretty sure he put his bucket to use. “Ugh, two more weeks of this…”

“See, Braums agrees with me!” Paris grinned, only to receive Braums’ pointed ire.

I suppose Braums isn’t in the mood for any of this, I snickered. Tuning around, I see Rafael gesturing to the tables.

“Shall we find a seat?” His mellow voice is definitely music to my ears.

We found a table with a sailor who had an eyepatch. I decided to call him Patchy in my head, it’ll be shorter than Eye patched Sailor for sure. Our own food arrived and I wonder just how much the boat ride was actually worth for food like this. A cup of rum, a small fillet of bland fish and rice that looks like it hardened.

Taking my chopsticks, I prepared myself and bit into it.

… “You should have asked for the change, Braums.” I deadpanned, gazing at the meal with mildly hidden disgust. “This fish tastes like it was swimming in the dessert instead of the sea.”

“He is rather limited, the ingredients he uses has to last the entire journey.” Rafael pointed out.

“He could have used the rum.” I pouted.

“… That is true.” Rafael sighed.

Braums’ held a look of similar distaste as he stated, “I can’t wait to get back to Oppehn.”

“Don’t be like that missy! It’s not so bad.” Patchy grinned, giving Braums a wink or well, a blink with his one eye.

I snorted at this. I could see Braums shaking with anger at the remark. Paris’ lips twitched up at this.

“I am- I am NOT- a missy!” His cheeks wee flushed at the indignation of being mistaken as a woman.

Honestly, I can relate to that. Being misgendered sucks big time. Now if only my sense of humor would agree instead of snickering at this. Patchy backed away and flushed at his own mistake.

Fai, Talia bless his honest heart, tilted his head and looked at Braums closely. “I do not understand. Braums does not look that much like a woman. Of course his throat is covered, and he does have plump lips for a boy. And Braums _is_ rather short, not only that but the way he holds himself-”

“ _THANK YOU_.” Came the strangled voice of Braums, “But I think that will suffice.” Those deep blue eyes glared at Rafael but Fai only nodded his head.

“You’re welcome.”

Someone stop me, I can’t stop laughing. Oh this is _good._ I put a hand on my stomach and wiped the tears in my eye in time to see Patchy go white and trembly.

“Er, sory, sir, man. Dude. Bro.”

Oh Talia, his awkwardness makes it even better! _I love my life._

“Excuse me.” Patchy took his bowl and ran with his tail between his legs.

Braums huffed, crossing his arms. “The nerve… Do I look feminine to you?”

“Being feminine isn’t a bad thing,” I pointed out, “After all, many people like feminine guys.”

“I do.” Paris purred.

Shooting Paris an unamused look, he said, “I didn’t ask _you_.”

At least Braums is placated. Honestly, he’s plain adorable even if I know he’s ripped. Glancing at Rafael, I thought back to the image of his pale skin being contasted by his black tattoos.

It wasn’t clear since it was night time, so I hope he only looks thinner than he actually is.

Then came the tale of the Grim Reaper. I stayed quiet, my eyes flickering to Rafael as I listened to the tale. I wonder how much of it were fiction and how much was fact? Ah well, I’ll never know and I don’t care much. All I hope is that Rafael will escape the clutches of Rai.

For the rest of dinner I stayed quiet, letting Paris take up the role of changing topic to the food.

After all the reminder of Rai made me remember why I’m even here in the first place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went from having two hits thanks to me rereading my own work to one bookmark and kudos, so thank you very much for that! I hope you'll enjoy this since as of right now this is all I think about and even if I try to focus on writing something else, my traitorous fingers immediately click the word file that has this instead. I do hope that my lovely readers will comment something like oh I don't know maybe who your favourite route was in the game maybe? I'll be honest Rafael's my absolute favorite and I love my statue-y boy. Besides that, I'm basically trying to think of more schemes because the story is not going to be ending at Oppehn hehehe 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter of Liar, Liar and have a great day, thank you so much for reading this!


	7. Showing Off

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suzaku sets their plan into motion while rat hunting with Rafael.

I overlooked the waves sloshing about against the ship. The sunset is peaceful and at least, this sight is good enough for me to think about somethings. Some details of certain moments, especially at the start of the journey, have faded along with my memories of earth. I can’t remember anything but the skills and modern day knowledge of things.

“Looks like the Shika cat is at it again.” A Reaver sailor noted.

Ah, it’s time for that moment isn’t it?

I headed up to Rafael, who regarded the dead rat with a dark look in his face. I’m not sure which part in his life did rats cause such trauma, is it when he lived in the fields alone? Is it when he was in the jail cell before escaping?

 _Did_ he ever get jailed in Oppehn?

“I hate rats.” Rafael said suddenly, his voice heavy with hatred.

Smiling gently, I said, “Hey, why don’t I help you catch some? I have nothing to do anyway plus at this rate, you’d be out of arrows before we reach the mainland.”

He looked at me and that dark look faded away to confusion. “You would help me?”

“Why not?” I grinned, “Besides, it’s been a while since I practiced my aiming skills.”

He looked at me, examining the ninjato, the tonfas strapped on my back and tilted his head. “You have nothing to aim with.”

“I have throwing daggers.” I gestured to my obi where the pouch sat on my hip.

Rafael blinked. “I see. I assumed the pouch was something else.”

With a shrug, I said, “Hey, let’s make this a competition.”

“Very well, what are the stakes?”

Hearing that, I put a finger on my lips, I glanced him up and down before smiling once more. “How about if you win, I’ll buy you some chocolate when we hit the mainland. If _I_ win, you’ll answer three questions for me without hesitation.”

He gives me a dubious look. “I do not see how you would be properly rewarded.”

A smile curled on my lips. Of course, I’m probably having this bet ride on how much I know Rafael but… Fai was supposed to leave this job for Lorelai. So I think I’ll be alright. And if he tries anything because of Rai… Then I’ll have to kill him.

I switched from Varin to Laiti, the language of the Shika. _“Believe me, Grim Reaper. I will be compensated well.”_

His eyes widened and I smiled mysteriously at him. He stayed silent for a moment and said, _“How do you know?”_

“I don’t kiss and tell, Fai.” I winked, “If you win, I’ll answer the question. Do we have a deal?”

He nodded his head. “Deal.”

* * *

I narrowed my eyes and kept my eyes at the dark shadows within the boat. Taking deep breath, I threw my dagger. A squeal informed me I had hit my mark.

With a smile, I took my dagger and dropped the rat in a bucket. So far I actually managed to get five. I’m feeling good about my numbers. Two hours have passed and I met up again with Rafael.

“On three, we’ll announce our score.” I grinned.

Rafael nodded, his face as still as a lake on a clear day.

I cleared my throat, “One.”

“Two.” He held up his bucket.

“Three!” I held up mine.

“Five!”

“Ten.”

I blinked and looked into his bucket. “What?! How?”

“I found a rat king.” Rafael replied, pointing at the tails. “It was about to raid the pantry.”

Looking into the bucket, I saw the aforementioned rat king. The tails all knotted together in an ugly manner. I wrinkled my nose at this. “Disgusting.”

“I win.” Rafael tilted his head at me. “You said you’d answer my questions.”

Ah well, it’s not like I didn’t plan of telling him things. After all, Rafael is a good ally to have on my side for when I take back the phoenix throne from Rai. “Our room should be empty, I’ll answer all your questions there.”

He followed me as we entered the room. Closing it, I turned to him and smiled.

“What do you wish to know, Rafael?”

Black eyes gazed at me unblinking. Light like, the steel of a blade, cutting through to my very being. His face is set like stone as he spoke his next words with carefully accented Varin.

“How did you know?”

Sitting on the bed, I tilted my head. “I know many things, such as the fact you tried to leave for your sister. Mr. Assassin, my knowledge is because you told me. It is a vision.”

The thing about Rafael is that he can tell when someone is lying or not. Which is why I wanted to tell him as early as possible. It would be easier if someone knew my secret as well since I can rely on him to tell me about Rai or go along with whatever scheme I have.

“… A vision?” He mumbled.

I knew he’s religious, believing in the creation story of Talia and her father. “Yes. In that vision, you told me with an uneasy look on your face. That tattoo of yours burned into my mind.”

“Why did I tell you?” Rafael ask, his eyes confused.

A frown touched my face, “My vision is hazy on the reason. It was night time and your top was removed. Your face was lit by the campfire as you announced your intention to kill the king.”

My dreams of the past, are in a way, visions. I’ve written down everything I knew, had tried to think of a plan on what to do but with the unpredictability of the many routes I can’t be too sure. So my best plan would simply be using whatever situation was advantageous.

“Understandable.” Rafael’s voice soothed me with its gentleness. He seems to be taking all of this well. “What did you want to ask me?”

“If you are still loyal to Rai, for one.” I shrugged as I moved closer to him.

Rafael looked down at his hands and blinked. “I am not.”

“Good, because if you were I would have tried to find a way to kill you on this adventure.” A laugh spilled from my lips. “Rai’s men killed my mother after all.”

Steel black eyes narrowed themselves into daggers. “Your mother was killed? For what reason?”

Lifting my hand, I moved my hair and revealed the bright red sakura flower printed on my forehead. “ _I am Suzaku, son of Shio the Eldest Princess, and rightful heir to the Phoenix Throne.”_

His eyes widened and he bowed. “Your highness.”

“Do not bow, Fai, I have yet to take the throne.” I allowed my hair to fall back down. “Do you understand why I’m telling you this?”

“You intend to take the throne from Rai.” He pointed out and I gave him a wide grin.

That’s my Rafael, so intelligent and thoughtful. I only hope my early reveal will change the tides of fate for good. After all, too many things have changed and so many things have stayed the same still.

“That throne is my birth right and Rai is pushing for a war by putting a price on the king’s head. If you were caught killing the king, they could very well accuse Shikan for the assassination and cause a Third War.”

I closed my eyes and sighed. Honestly, the game ending is fairly lucky that Braums is a good king and they seemed a bit busy with too many things to accuse Shikan of war. Most likely the in game Ash or Paris told him that he acted on his own.

“I understand. A war would be troublesome.” Rafael has such a gentle voice, how could anyone call him the Grim Reaper when he should have been called the Angel of Death instead?

“Rafael, what I wished to ask of you is if you would work with me. Not as an assassin but as an ally. If word goes out of my existence, Rai will have me killed. Will you help?” I rested my head in my hands and looked at him from the corner of my eyes.

This is it. No backing out now. If he says no but won’t stand in the way, I’ll let him live. If he denies me and tries for my head too, my ninjato will be a faster draw. My hands tightened their grip. Rafael’s death in Braums’ bittersweet ending had be shocked into tears. I don’t want to know how badly I’ll cry if I have to kill him myself.

“I will aid you, your highness.”

A relieved grin grew on my face. “Thank you, Fai. I’ll make sure to get you the best chocolate I can get when we hit the mainland.”

The unsaid words between us made the tense atmosphere fall to comfortable silence.

Now all I need is to befriend Braums!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 11 is a lot longer than I pictured since I need to chop up chapter 2 fom the game, of course I'll keep to canon until they each Riddel since Suzaku's schemes consist of me banging my head as I try to work out how the court works in Revaria as well as King Baxter's bs because as of right now we know that King Baxter has been over taxing the common people instead of the nobles. Most likely Braums will fix that by putting more of the taxes onto the nobility but the nobles won't like it necessarily. I'll have Reaver Ash Norbaum as a potential noble for the future once I reach the more court drama part of this self-indulgent story lol
> 
> Thank you for reading and have a nice day!


	8. Petrichor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A stormy day on a ship trapped with little else to do that stay inside and watch Paris flirt with everyone and everything? No way! Luckily, Rafael can accompany Suzaku on the way back.

The storm came in the blink of an eye. Angry raindrops smacking the top deck, fog ghosting the feet as the rain gave everything a special halo. I was in the mess hall standing with Rafael as Paris spoke with a group of male Cubi.

After another round of laughter, I scowled and looked at Rafael. “I think I’m growing tired of listening to their laughter. Fai, do you want to head back?”

“You’re asking me instead of Paris?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Paris is entertaining himself just fine. Besides, you haven’t gotten much sleep last night have you?” I rolled my eyes as even more laughter echoed.

Rafael frowned. “I told you, I do not need much sleep.”

“And I think you need to sleep more. How can I rely on you to fight beside me if you’re sleep deprived?” I tuned to him, crossing my arms.

“… Very well.”

Heading to the door, I opened it, shielding my face from the brief splashes of rain. The wind was strong enough to push me and I fell back, hitting Rafael.

“Are you alright, your highness?” He asked me, since I was pushed to him, I could feel his breath on my horn.

“You have explicit permission to call me, Suzaku, Fai. I may be Shika Royalty but I have yet to take the throne.” Rafael has a habit of calling me by my title when we’re in private. I’m not sure why he has so much more respect for me compared to Braums when Braums and I basically have the same status.

“Thank you, your highness.”

I swear I can hear the cheekiness in his voice.

“Come on then, Fai.”

I relied on him to lead me when three people were gasping at the side of the ship. _Right, that happens…_ One of the moments on this ship is that a person gets thrown overboard from how badly the ship was rocking.

“What happened?” I asked them as I kept an eye out of the woman.

“Someone was thrown overboard,” The Reaver beside me explained.

That’s when I head the other splash. Turning around, I already found him gone. A Reaver woman shouted out in amazement.

“Someone jumped overboard!”

“I have eyes, Annabeth!”

Rafael tied a rope around his waist but with the way the rain is pouring down, I had to secure it. I looked around, my eyes adjusting to the rain. Ah!

The rope is cold and damp. But the knot wasn’t tight enough as the strong wind blew on it, the rope started slipping on where he’d tied it.

“Rinka, calm your wrath!” I shouted as I leaned to grab the rope. My hand caught on the knot and I looked down to see the raging ocean broiling beneath. Yikes. With gritted teeth, I fought against the wind to put it in its place and tighten it.

Moe gasps can be heard as Rafael began to climb up. The rope tightening as he used it to climb. I poked my head back over the side of the ship brushing my hair away from my face as it blocked my view.

“Fai!” I called out as he tossed himself over the side and brought down the woman, his hand on her head to keep it from hitting the floorboards.

“He saved her!” The same female Reaver shouted in shock.

_“I have eyes, Annabeth!”_ Came the angry reply of her male companion.

“Emily!” A woman shouted as she pushed her way to the unconscious woman. “Emily! Thank the Saints, Genevieve, Pandora, Fenris!”

As Rafael straightens himself, the woman lifts up a hand. “Wait, thank you, kind sir… You saved my sister’s life!”

I ran to him, opening my arms for a hug. Surprised, he catches me. When the knot flew away… I shuddered, that never happened in the game but not everything goes smoothly, right? Looking up at him, I examined his calm expression.

“Fai, the rope- The wind almost blew it off.” I held him closer, calming my beating heart.

“You’re shivering. Let’s get inside, Suzaku-sama.” I flushed at the sound of my name, my _actual_ name being said by him.

“Yes.” I nodded my head against his chest and we tuned around to head back. It’s been so long since I heard my name… Blinking back tears, I hoped the rain could hide them. Hearing it again after so long, I can’t help the bubbly feeling that makes me want to smile away the rain.

The Reavers who were watching the debacle can’t help but think to themselves, ‘What a good pair of lovers’.

* * *

The moment we got back inside our room, I changed clothing. “Fai, you were brilliant back there!”

Rafael blinked at me. “I simply thought I could do it so I did.”

A giggle passed my lips as I turned to Rafael, “Silly Fai, what I meant was that you were amazing! One moment you were beside me then all of a sudden you’re tying a rope around your waist and jumping into the sea for someone.”

“It was the most logical thing to do.” His words make it sound like he’s justifying it more to himself than to me.

Grinning at him, I dried my hair, “For an assassin, you went out and saved someone else. You saved a life instead of taking one. Are you sure you are unable to feel as you claim to be?”

“I-”

“-You did not hesitate to go after that woman when any other assassin would deem it unnecessary for the job. Rafael, you’re a hero.”

“No one ever called me a hero before.” He looked aside.

“Well, they should. You are one and if you still claim to not be a hero, you will be soon since you _are_ going to help the rightful heir return to the Phoenix throne.” Deciding the conversation was done, I went about cleaning myself up.

Wiping my face, I found myself looking into my reflection on a mirror. Red eyes shined with the depth of a jewel, I’ve forgotten how alike they are to my mothers. But it’s also different to what I remembered it to be, mother had eyes of red like a china rose, always soft and gentle but with the dullness that spoke of a life in court schemes and palace intrigue.

My eyes aren’t the only mark handed down by my mother as I looked at the flower bloomed as red as my eyes. It’s beautiful and would have been if it wasn’t cursing me to a life beyond the actual game’s story. It’s a pity I have to hide it though. Maybe someday I can have my bangs parted to show off the cherry blossom. Rafael on his part remained silent.

“I suggest you change clothes, otherwise you may catch a cold.” I turned away from the mirror and faced him with a playful wink. “Goodnight, my brave hero.”

“…Goodnight, Suzaku-sama.”

…Okay, I can’t sleep without knowing why he refers to me with such reverence.

“Fai?”

“Yes?” The sound of wet clothes shifting paused as he answered me back.

“Why do you give me so much respect when Braums and I are essentially of the same status?”

I took a deep breath and waited for his answer, my eyes tracing the ceiling.

“You are the hope of the Shika. They believe you will do the country better and return it to its glory.”

Ah, so it’s the pressure of leading. _Suddenly my shoulders are starting to ache,_ I smiled at my own joke. Poking my head to the side, I looked down at Rafael, examining the tattoos. At first glance, the skull is easily seen but it’s also beautiful in an odd sense.

It holds an artistry of its own. I wonder, how many people get to see that mark and live to tell the tale? That mark will follow him. That’s for sure. A reminder of the past, and of what is close to his fingertips at the future.

_How funny, we both have markings that tell the world who we are and who we were._ The thought bought a wry smile out of me. 

“And what about you personally, why give me so much respect when all I’ve done so far is hide on Solan?”

Rafael looked up at me. His jade white skin stood starkly against the dark skull tattoo. Compared to the back, the image is much clearer now. The eyes of that black skull burning me with its gaze as his own eyes seemed to be.

“…You are the first to acknowledge my profession without judgement. You haven’t mentioned a single word of disgust or dislike. I find myself willing to give you that respect.”

Is it truly that simple? I suppose I haven’t judged him for it. After all, as future ruler I must be prepared to kill and I have been thinking of having the king killed. Back on earth, when we had to dissect in class, my classmates tended to express disgust but I saw a logical and good reason and felt nothing because of that.

Maybe in a way, Rafael and I are the same. Two sides of a different coin.

“I understand why you did it and I honestly don’t mind you killing the king. As future ruler of Shikan, I must be prepared for hard decisions in order to secure the throne and the country. I will be no different from you who has taken life as I will become responsible for every Shika in the nation.” I smiled at him. “I only trust you will do the same for when I take over.”

He blinked and looked away. “…Alright.”

Now I can go to sleep. Giggling to myself, I said, “Goodnight, Rafael.”

“Goodnight, Suzaku-sama.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I barely worked on chapter eleven today, I guess you can say I got a bit burned out especially when my university has yet to cancel online classes and insist on carrying on as if nothing is happening. What sucks even more is that they're piling activity on activity on us like that'll change the situation. Anyway, chapter eleven is still a few idk how many days away so enjoy this short chapter on the boat! Writing this is one of my first exclusive dialogue difference compared to canon and there'll be a lot more where that came from. I think I mentioned keeping to most events of canon until we've reached Riddel but I will add my own differences and takes especially since Rafael and Suzaku both know the secret of the other, allowing them to be as free about certain information.


	9. Dealing with the Rest of the Boat Ride

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ding! Ding! PIRATES!!! Shika pirates to be exact but let's be real, they sure as hell wouldn't be sent by Rai with how easily Suzaku and Rafael took them on.

The next day the storm cleared and we all headed out of our cabins. The only one whose heat is racing is me as I examined the bright blue sky. The noise of the crowd did little to ease my nerves. 

I stretched my arms up. In an effort to still my nerves, I said, “It’s nice to be out of the cabins. Being stuck in there has started to make me antsy.”

Paris, on the other hand, seemed rather disappointed. “At least with the storm I had an excuse not to come up on deck.”

I waved him off with an eye roll. “You know me well enough to understand that being cooped up inside one place for too long would drive me crazy. I _need_ to feel the open sky.”

Rafael threw me a confused look. “How do you ‘feel’ the open sky?”

“It’s a freshness in the air, Fai and a feeling of not being constricted to the indoors.” I grinned back at him.

Letting my eyes wander, I found a group of children playing with marbles. I might as well pass the time instead of pacing around anxiously for the pirates. But first I need to alert Fai.

Passing by him, I whispered, “Pirates will be invading the boat. I suggest you prepare yourself.”

His eyes narrow at me and I give him a smile, lifting my finger to my mouth to tell him to keep it quiet. He mouthed the word ‘vision’ to me and I nod. Wagging my fingers, I join the group of children for a game of marbles.

* * *

Once I finished teaching these kids how to play with marbles, I take one as the bell rings.

 _“PIRATES!”_ A sailor yells.

“Ash?” Paris calls out as I look at Rafael with a nod.

Braums comes to us with tears in his eyes. “Pirates? What do we do?”

“This ship is not equipped with canons. The captain will surrender.” Rafael pointed out.

The prince shuddered. “And what will they do to us?”

“There is no guarantee. They may intend to kill us, or they may intend to torture then kill us.”

With the calm and rational voice of Rafael, Braums let out a sob. Paris doesn’t look any better. As of right now I think the only calm ones in the group are me and Fai. Fai because he can just ninja his way out of this and me because I know better.

“O-Oh saints, I don’t want to die.”

Giving our little prince a stern look, I said, “None of us are dying, Braums. Trust me and trust the guild,”

The captain shouted orders, “Everyone get to your cabins and remain there. Don’t come out for anything!”

“You heard the woman,” I coaxed him, “Let’s go. Paris escort our client.”

With a nod, Paris brought Braums with him as we headed back to the cabins. I give him a softer look, our poor princeling has probably never been exposed to such things as the only child he didn’t need to learn much backstabbing power struggles too since he’s guaranteed his succession.

“I-I don’t want to go back to my room alone. Can I stay with you three?” Baums asked.

Rafael frowned as he said, “I don’t think there’s room for-”

“-Of course.” I cut him off with a pointed look.

* * *

As we all clamored inside the cramp room, Paris took the top bunk to make room while Braums sat below, with his head in his hands. I sat next to Braums, a hand on his shoulder to comfort him while Fai stood to the side.

“I always thought the chances of pirates attacking were slim…”

Rafael spoke up, logical as always. “Well this particular route sees more of them than usual. Had we left from New Trinity’s northern dock, we might have avoided them.”

This caused Braums to panic more. Tears flowed down his eyes and he gave a hopeless sob. “This is all my fault…”

“It’s not.” I replied only for him to shrug away my hand.

Turning to me, I could see those whirling pools of blue shining with tears. Was it inappropriate if I called him a crying beauty?

“You heard the Shika! I mean, Rafael! Had I chosen the northern dock this wouldn’t have happened! I’m… I’m so sorry.”

I moved my hand to the back of my neck and grinned at him. “It’s not your fault!”

“What are you smiling about? We could be dead!” His voice sounds strained as he choked another sob.

Half of me wants to tell him dying isn’t as bad as he thinks it is but that wouldn’t be the best. I sighed and propped my elbows on my knees, leaning my head as I gazed at the door.

“It’s always easier to smile in the face of adversity.” I glanced at him from the corner of my eyes. “But instead of focusing on the problem, one should also think of a solution. It’s okay to cry, Braums, but crying should not be the only action one will take.”

I intend for him to succeed his father and I can’t have someone soft take Revaria’s throne. So I simply have to take matters into my own hands and mold him myself before those advisers of his can get their grubby hands on him.

Braums blinked away the tears as he listened to my words. I hid a smile, good, he’s probably thinking of how he’ll become king.

“I agree. Crying is not an effective way to spend our time.” Rafael said and this time, I openly smiled.

That’s when I heard Paris, “Oh God… The last moments of my life and I’m spending it with you three…”

I stood up and swatted at him. “What’s that supposed to mean? Shouldn’t you be grateful to have your _best friend_ here?”

“I’d be grateful to have a little bit of excitement in my last dying hours.” He tossed me a sleazy grin.

Rolling my eyes, I sat back on the bed, “You will have your friendship and you will like it!”

“You two have a strange friendship.” Fai tilted his head. And there’s the confused assassin, I know and love!

With a grin, I gave him a little wave, “Paris is the one that makes it weird.”

“Oi! What’s that supposed to mean huh?” Paris leaned over from his place, looking down at me as I stuck out my tongue at him.

“You…You people…” He lifted his head up, tears dried and his lip quivering.

 _Bingo! Objective, cheer up the client, has been reached._ I thought happily as he stammered out his sentence.

“You… you’re absolutely…ridiculous.”

With a laugh he begins to wipe away the last tears in his eyes. Sniffling a bit, I gave him a bright smile. This moment was the start of the full friendship of the Pretenders Guild and I can only hope that we all stay friends.

Paris let out his own laugh, “I can’t argue with that.”

“Ugh…if the pirates _do_ … kill us then I’m sorry for taking you all with me.” Braums’ voice held a fragility, like blue paper about to tear.

“Hey, there’s no need to apologize. We came here voluntarily.” Paris coaxed.

I snickered. “Yeah, we were basically begging to come along. So it’s no one’s fault."

“I mean, you could say it’s _your_ fault for having the idea in the first place.”

Wow, shade much, Pear? I snorted as I pettily pushed the top bunk. Paris let out a yelp from this.

“Yep, no one to blame. Can’t be helped.” I grinned at Braums.

He smiled back, a teeny tiny bit. It’s enough to give me even more confidence in myself. After all, most likely they pirates will remove my sword so all I can do is keep my tonfas hidden. I adjusted the obi, hopping the back ribbon is large enough to hide it.

“It will be fine.” Rafael said and I smiled up at him. I’m sure we both understood then what we’ll be doing.

Standing up, I removed my ninjato. “You think you can hide this on yourself?”

He frowned at the sword before shaking his head. “No.”

“Ah, I thought so too. Ah well, we’ll just have to leave this.” I looked at Paris and brought up the sword. “Pear, hide this on the top bunk.”

“Uh, alright?” He took it and placed it beside him.

Now that I’m done with that, I sat on my place and waited.

* * *

The pirates busted into the cabin and began dragging us out. They made a mess of the room, probably as an intimidation strategy. Through the open door, I can see other passengers being dragged out of their rooms.

I allowed them to grab me by the hair as I shouted. “Hey! Watch the ponytail!”

The pirate’s grip on my tightened, “Shut up, soot hair!”

I huffed, ignoring the painful hair pulling in favor of keeping an eye out for my friends. Once we got on the deck, I found Braums and Paris sitting alongside the rest of the sobbing passengers. As I was dragged to join them, I watched it all with critical eyes.

The captain of the ship sat on her knees as a large man stood in front of her. He’s a beefy guy for a Shika. I briefly wondered if these were also Rai’s people but dismissed it. Rai’s men were trained assassins, these guys? Well, I could hear their footsteps before they even walked.

“That’s right, everyone out! I want to see all your beautiful faces.” He grinned nastily.

I bet his breath smelt of rum and bland fish. The sight of his crooked teeth had me curling my mouth in disgust. Their fashion taste is also rather stereotypical, with striped clothing and bandanas. I guess the bandanas are to emphasize their horns.

“Alright, everyone is going to hand me their seraphs. All of them. As well as any other valuables you might have.”

The captain is the largest of them all. He grabs the hair of a sobbing Reaver woman and eyes her pearl necklace.

“Like this nice necklace, for instance.” He grins.

Taking out his sword, he points it at her. She screams and the others scramble away. I give his sword a look. The guard of the sword is shaped like a trapezoid. The handle is wrapped in cloth with the intricate and distinct signs of Eastern Asian or in this case, Shika way. The blade itself has the slight curve of a katana.

I’ll have to check the rest of it. After all, I can’t shake off this feeling they’re under _someone’s_ wing.

“Off with it girly.”

The woman pleads him with offers of giving golden seraphs, stating it’s her grandmother’s but he ignores it.

“It sounds like this necklace is worth quite a lot. If only in sentiment. _Off with it.”_

Sobbing, she removes the necklace and hands it to him.

“Good, everyone be as docile as this wench here and we _won’t_ have to scalp you before we kill you.”

I rolled my eyes at his threat and turned to Fai, who finished surveying the situation.

“Suazaku-sama,” He whispered and I grinned.

“Got it.”

Clearing my throat, I stood up and grabbed the attention of everyone. “I think that’s enough.”

One of the pirates bares his teeth at me and I scoff at them. “Quiet!”

He draws his sword and points it at me but I laugh at him instead.

“Wait, let’s hear what they have to say.” The pirate captain says, lifting a hand.

I smile at him gratefully. Man, isn’t it messed up that even _pirates_ respect my pronouns but people on earth didn’t?

“Alright, so you’ve showed off enough. Give back your stolen items, give back the seraphs, go back to your little boat, and let’s call it a day. That isn’t a suggestion.” I grinned at them, hoping that my red eyes can intimidate them.

The captain grins at every word and steps closer to me slowly. I have no doubt he thinks I’m stupid and is about to use me as an example.

“And why am I gonna do that?” He asks, a growl in his throat.

I giggle at this, excitement bubbling in my throat as Rafael speaks up.

“Because I’m going to make you.”

 _So cool!_ Taking out my tonfas, I watched as the pirate captain gestured for two of his pirates to get him.

Rafael’s fast and his movements are fluid. Precise and accurate as he took care of those pirates. Using the attention on him as my own distraction, I started my own fight too. My tonfas matched well against these idiots. No wonder they picked katanas, the blade is rather forgiving when it comes to edge alignment so even an untrained idiot can slice without fail.

Ramming a tonfa in his stomach, I parried the blade of his sword with another. He groaned at the attack. I shoved his blade away and struck his head. He fell down, curling at the pain.

I stepped on his wrist, forcing him to let go of the sword.

Another one came at me. I blocked it. He moved to go for another attack. I moved back, hitting the sword with a tonfa. Using this momentum, I whacked him on the head, causing him to crumple on the ground.

“Your captain is dead.” Rafael spoke up. “Leave now, and I’ll spare the rest of you.”

The pirates jump overboard and I walked over to Rafael. “Half of me is disappointed _I_ couldn’t use my own sword.”

He comes closer. Very close. I take a step back as he brushes away a strand of hair.

“…You’re bleeding.”

I blinked and reached a hand to my neck. Oh, it must have been when I rammed my tonfa in some guy’s stomach. The blade was close to my face but I never noticed.

“Ah, I am…” I laugh at this, “I guess I was a bit careless.”

“Be careful next time, I don’t want you getting hurt.” He backed off and I flushed at this.

_Damn it Rafael! You’re an actual smooth criminal!_

“Ash!” Paris shouted, grabbing me by my shoulders. “What the saints were you thinking? Wait, never mind, you _weren’t_ thinking.”

“Pear, I’m fine-”

“-No you were not, Ash! I get that you’re as good as Rafael but what if the pirate captain decided to skewer you first? What if someone got you from behind?”

I…I never expected Paris to actually be worried since I knew how to fight this time. He hugged me tightly and I relax, hugging him back.

“Pear…”

He glances at Braums and whispers to me, “You are a puny musician. I don’t care if you know how to use those things, leave it to Rafael next time got it?”

“I can make no promises, Pear. But I’ll be more careful.”

Braums was still kind of shaken but considering he’s never been exposed to this type of stuff, that’s understandable.

Heading to Rafael, I looked at the blade he stole. “Is it what I think it is?”

He shakes his head. “They’re not Rai’s.”

I nod my head at this and relax but I took note of it any. They may not be Rai’s but they are Shika. Someone else may be behind the curtain. Or perhaps it’s simply a coincidence… I shake my head. “I see. You did well, Fai.”

“You performed just as well, Suzaku-sama.” He complimented. “Though I only wish you were more aware of your surroundings. I’d rather not have you injured again.”

“Alright.”

Braums makes his way over to me with stars in his eyes. “Ash! You and Rafael were amazing! You really came up with that plan on your own?”

Under his admiring eyes, I can’t help but puff up with pride. “You got it!”

“I made the right choice, choosing your guild!” Braums nodded to himself and the pride died away into shame.

 _Sorry, Braums but…_ I looked at Rafael. _I’m leading the wolf to the rabbit den._

* * *

The next day, Paris has gone to someone’s bed for sure and I told Rafael to get some sleep. I’m pretty sure he’s rat hunting but ah well. So the only one here is me and Braums.

The whole pirate thing made me think more about the endings. Since I’m a Shika, some endings aren’t open for me, mainly Paris’ entire route due to race lock. Since I’m here though, I know that there’s a chance some of the endings may happen.

Mainly the bad ends…

“Uhm, Ash?” Braums asked breaking me out of my thoughts.

Right, no time to focus on endings. “What is it, Braums?”

“I- Well, you see…” He flushed under my curious gaze before shaking his head. “Never mind.”

“Don’t worry, Braums. I won’t judge you for it.” I gave him a gentle smile.

He’s the prince so I guess he may have grown a bit shy due to his treatment. Perhaps it’s also due to his father’s strictness that he grew to be this unsure of himself. Thinking back to his words when Paris dropped his luggage, I wonder if he’s simply repeating what his father said in order to seem in control.

“I… I was wondering if you could teach me some sword moves…?” He looked away, eyes on the floor.

“I’d love too! Though, I thought you’d be asking Rafael rather than me since _he’s_ the one who stole the sword.” I have my ninjato on my side now with my tonfas back in their hiding spot in my obi.

Braums smiles, “You also have a sword so I’m sure you know hwo to use it.”

“Ah,” I nodded my head. “That makes sense. Hmm, you know I can include Rafael in this.”

“You would?” His eyes brighten.

As I finished my meal, I sent him a look. “Hmm, you know I should also teach you something just in case your skill with the weapon isn’t up the par yet.”

Tilter his head, he shot me a confused look. “And that would be?’

“Using your looks! After all, you’re quite adorable and it has plenty of uses.” I praised.

He pouted at the mention of his rather feminine looks but his glare softened when I mentioned its uses. “Really? Do tell.”

With a devious grin, I did. After all, I’m basically giving him some pointers. From one future ruler to another, it would be best if he knew how to use everything to his advantage both for scheming and for other things.

That and it might help me push Braums and Paris together, that way…

The memory of the last ending I got strained my smile as I coached him.

I don’t want Paris to die and this was the most viable solution I could think off that would end with the both of them happy. After all, Paris dies for Ash in his bad end. Rafael gets hanged for trying to assassinate the king in Braums’ bad end.

So obviously, the best way to make it so that Braums’ bad end as well as Paris’ bad end never happens is if they get paired off.

It’s one of my much cleaner schemes compared to the more…throne related ones.

* * *

With my help, Braums turned his bright blue eyes on Rafael. Watching the three of them interact as they have so many times in the game, my heart clenches.

_The things I have thought of and the things I have planned, my only hope is that one day, they could forgive me for it._

After all, my bid for the Phoenix throne is not going to be as easy as Braums’ ascension. Talia help me, I’ve already loved them all before I even met them. I know that all the endings are bittersweet, leading to a separation in our little group. But I can only hope that maybe, just maybe, we’ll all keep in touch.

A white glove waves itself in front of me, pulling me from my thoughts. Seeing the proud smiling face of Braums, I can’t help but smile back.

_Mother, I’m sure you’d love to meet my friends someday._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've managed to figure out how I'm going to do some stuff for the future thanks to venting to my friends about the vague idea I have for this mess of a plot. By the way, if you know any videos on tonfas and stuff, please send them my way, I'll be needing references for fighting. I already used a tonfa demonstration from youtube as a basis for my fight with the pirates. Writing the entirety of the boat ride was a tiring and long drawn out mess and so are the rest of the forest trekking moments, as I've come to realize. Makes you feel like you're the one going though trees, trees, and more trees with nothing else to do but talk about random stuff. Still, ocean goddess has a canon name, which means I don't have to build up a pantheon totally from scratch. Shikan will mostly be based on Japan due to the sword being wielded as well as the style of dress that was vastly different from Chinese Hanfu. For the nobles and the upper courts, it'll be styled more on China. 
> 
> Thank you for reading and I hope you have a nice day!


	10. Mainland Musings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Out of the boat and onto the mainland, Paris is grateful and Suzaku's just happy that their plans are going the way they think it is.

Trinity is a large and beautiful place. Compared to the Venetian feel that New Trinity had, its namesake has the same feeling as a lovely town in the European countryside. In other words, quaint.

“I’m so glad to be on dry land!” Paris grinned, stretching his arms.

Braums nodded his head in agreement. “Come, let us find an inn. I believe I saw one this way.”

We passed by many buildings, keeping an eye out for the ‘inn’ symbol. Well, mostly. I admired the way the sunset’s light shined on the buildings, giving them a gentle orange glow. Orange like a campfire…

I shook my head, _Suzaku, don’t even **think** of that!_

Tonight, I’ll have to revisit my plan later then.

Rafael points at a building, “There.”

“Ah.” Braums blinks and we head on in.

The inn itself has three stories and the name, ‘Bell’s Burrow’. I had hoped for a name like ‘Midori’ after all, back in New Trinity the two inns were named after blue but I suppose not everything in this world can line up with coincidences.

“Hello, how may I help you?” A friendly innkeeper greeted.

Braums, true to his word, said, “I’d like two of your finest rooms.”

“Sure! Each room has complementary water jugs and the bath is round back, open until sundown.” The innkeeper dropped the cloth she were using to dry a cup.

Satisfied with this, he nodded his head. “Thank you.”

“If you would please follow me.” The innkeeper gestured, leading us to where our rooms would be.

“Sebastian! Are rooms three and four ready?” She shouted.

A little Cubi boy poked his head out of a door, “Just a second, mum!”

He looks at us and his smile turns to a cheeky grin. “Are you guys passing through or because of the ghost?”

_“Sebastian!”_ his mother shouted.

Braums paled at this. “Gh-ghost?”

“Don’t mind him,” She said with big smile, wringing her hands, “There’s no ghost!”

She let out a few forced chuckles while Sebastian kept running his tiny little mouth.

“There is too, mum! It roams around at night, searching for someone to steal their toes!”

For a man with such dark skin, he’s gone to an interesting pallor. “Steal their toes?”

“ _Sebastian._ ” That is one unhappy mother, no doubt Sebastian will be chewed out for this. “Don’t mind him, boys will be boys!”

I snicker as his mother snaps at him to get the rooms ready. Once the little kid got out of the room with a bundle of sheets, he turns to us and says, “All right, they’re all good! Enjoy your stay.”

Before he leaves though, he turns around one more time and gives Braums a cheeky grin. “And watch out for the ghost!”

The innkeeper sighed and directed us to our rooms. “If you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to ask, we love to accommodate at Bell’s Burrow!”

And she left.

“Which room do you want?” I asked Braums, after all he’s the employer, it wouldn’t be good if I grabbed whatever room I wanted.

He peered over at both rooms, “Hmm, they’re identical…”

“Actually,” I corrected him. “I heard her say the left one was a bit nicer than the right.”

And if one looked at the numbers, that’s true. After all three is good luck while four is bad luck. Maybe I should have just gotten the third room instead, Talia knows I need all the luck in the world if I’m going to be pushing people around like chess pieces.

With a slight smile he sends me a pleased look, “Very well, the left one it is.”

Paris gives him a sly smile, “So I take it you won’t let any of us sleep with you?”

Braums flushes, “What?”

“There are two beds and three of us.” Paris points out gleefully.

Realizing he was simply being teased, Braums huffs at him. “Can’t you do what you did last time?”

Paris shrugs. “Well, now that it’s sorted, I could use a drink!”

“I’ll take a shower and then take a walk around town if that’s alright with the boss?” I’ll need some of the time to work on my plan and also think about how I’ll handle Riddel and Oppehn.

“Go ahead.” Braums waved dismissively.

I smiled and set down my things.

* * *

The town itself is pleasant. The moon is at its darkest, but that means the night can be much more beautiful as the stars lit the way. I wish I had a camera to take a picture of it. Mother would have liked it, at least I’m sure she’d be entertained by my rambling.

I take a deep breath as I enjoyed the night breeze. After some deliberation, I figured I have a plan on how to deal with chapter four and five. Which means I have before Riddel to enjoy their company…

_Is this what Rafael felt as we got closer to Oppehn in the game? This is the worst!_ I gave another sigh, only to look up.

I’m rather surprised I managed to catch Rafael heading out. Maybe I should join him? After all, I’d like to pray to Rinka in thanks for the safe journey as well as for having Rafael not drown in his publicity stunt.

Following after him into the forest, I realize he’s gone out of sight.

“Good evening, Suzaku-sama.” Turning around, I found Rafael, upside down on a tree branch.

His face is close to mine as I stared into those unblinking black eyes. I covered my cheeks trying to hide the blush I knew was creeping up on me.

“Good evening, Rafael.” I greeted back, clearing my throat to collect myself.

He jumped down from the branch. “Why did you come here?”

I giggled, “I was looking you, Fsi.”

Wait… Wait, oh no, oh no, I am _not_ doing this! The time on the boat was because it was an unavoidable scene, so I figured I could maximize it to my advantage but _this_? Oh no, this is a specific bonding moment for Rafael’s route.

I cannot afford to think about love on this stupid trip.

Rafael’s eyes widen at this. “You were?”

_Okay, I can still salvage this. After all, this is giving Braums and Paris some time together._

I nodded my head at this, a lot calmer. This isn’t me following Rafael’s route, this is just me giving Paris and Braums some time to be together! “So what made you come here?”

“The innkeeper said there was a Shika shrine still in use over this way.” He nodded his head at the direction of the shrine. “I went to go and pray.”

“Would you like some company?” It has been a while since I could pray to an actual shrine and not one I adjusted to my home’s needs.

“I would like that.” He smiled at me.

Dear Talia, that smile had me blushing when this was a game, and to see it in real life? My heart skipped a beat and I gave him my own shy smile. It was like seeing a moon halo for the first time!

“You have a nice smile.” The words left my mouth before I could even process it.

He blinked and at once, his smile dropped. “I…smiled?”

“Yes you were,” I happily replied to him.

As we walked through the forest, a cold breeze kissed the land, causing me to shudder.

“Are you cold?” Rafael asked, glancing at me.

I nodded my head. “I am, and you?”

He looked away. “I am freezing.”

… I should tell him what I intend to do for Oppehn. Or well, at least a little bit of it.

“Rafael, when the times comes for you to kill the king, can you hide your face and your hair then pretend to try and assassinate me?” I hum and he turns back to me.

“Why?”

Another breeze flew by, as I stayed silent in contemplation. “I intend to keep your image with our friends clean.”

“Friends?” He furrowed his eyebrows.

“Yes, they’re our friends. And, well, if they don’t think of you as a friend, I do.” I looked down at the dewed grass.

The sounds of leaves crunching and other forest life is a calming background. It’s good for the silence between us as we both think, that’s for sure.

His voice is like the melody for this harmony with the night. “When you said friend, I thought you were not serious.”

“Rafael, you’re the only person besides my deceased mother who knows I’m the long lost heir to the Phoenix throne. _I_ know that you’re the Grim Reaper who everyone’s so afraid of. We both know and kept the secret of the other. At this point, I’d think we classify ourselves as friends.”

“Oh. I see.”

We arrived at the shrine and I took a moment to examine everything. The shrines aren’t large, in fact they’re small stone houses that held the statues of Talia and Rinka. According to customs, one must pray to Talia before praying to another deity, as a way of thanking Talia for what she has done for us. I personally see it as a metaphor to how she opened up the gateway between the gods and the common people.

As Rafael knelt and prayed to Talia, I thought back to my mother.

I’m sure my mother would like this place. She always spoke fondly of the forests on Shikan. Where trees as thick as houses and tall enough to cover the whole island of Belcat with its shade covered the mountains, making it green for as far as the eye could see. My mother made it sound so magical too. My favorite was when she spoke of the autumn trees that looked like they were on fire.

Hopefully, I can have an official name plate for my mother to be honoured in the palace as she should be.

“Suzaku-sama,” Rafael’s voice grounded me back to reality, “Will you pray?”

“Yes. I’ll take a while as I intend to pray to Rinka as well.”

I clapped my hands thrice and bowed to the shrine before kneeling on the cold stone slab.

_Talia, bringer of light, shine upon us with your grace and kindness. Bathe the lands with your glory…_

With my eyes closed, I wonder if my mother is beside me, praying like we used to in Belcat. After finishing my prayers to Talia and Rinka, I stand up and bow to the shrines once more before back away.

“It’s getting late, Suzaku-sama.” Rafael commented, his eyes scanning the sky. “Are you ready to go back?”

Gazing at the shrines and the forest, I shook my head. “I would like to stay for a while. We could walk around, if you don’t mind.”

Is it me or did those steel eyes of his soften? Either way, I couldn’t see it properly in the cover of the night.

“Alright.”

The walk is peaceful and calming. Despite the coldness of the night, it was never uncomfortable. My thoughts haven’t been this calm in years.

“…Before my mother died, we used to pray together in Belcat. But when she passed, I had to make do with a household shrine. I’m sure she’d like to see this, it would have touched her heart to see another shrine.”

I’m not sure what compelled me to say it. Was it the calm atmosphere between us, the fact we prayed together like my mother and I used to do, or was it simply because I trusted him?

“… I’m sure she would.”

I smiled at his words. He’s not much for words of comfort but I can see he’s trying hard. “I wish she was here to see this, to see that I’ve made a friend with someone who knows who I am, to see that I’m one step closer to putting her soul to rest for good. She’d love the forest here.”

A hand reaches up to my cheeks, and I look up to see Rafael close to me. His sincere eyes shining with a hint of worry. I belatedly realize that his hand is wiping something from my face.

“You’re crying.”

_Huh?_

I touched my face. Oh, I really am crying. Giving Rafael a smile, I wipe away the tears. His hand dropped from its place and for a moment, I wanted to chase it and place it back. My cheek tingled as the cold night soon took away the heat.

“Thank you, Rafael. I-I don’t know what came over me- I suppose I was just-”

“You loved your mother dearly.” Rafael said, “It is understandable.”

Relaxing at his words, I nodded. “She was the best.”

“I’m sure she was.”

“Rafael, I think I’m ready to go back.”

“As you wish, Suzaku-sama.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehehe, I'm in a good mood today since I managed to finish chapter 11 yesterday! Now that I'm done with that, time to start on to chapter 12 *sighs at the forest* at least I can squeeze in some lore drops on the Shika as well as work on bonding with Rafael. Then after that, I'll be working on the river scene and it'll be done! Also, everybody (Or just me) wave hello to the person to made the game, Minyan! 
> 
> Ah, I'll admit, most of this is me pantsing unless it directly corroloates to Suzaku's plan as well as some of me adding some flavor because King Baxter gives me the vibes of those 'A+ Parenting' guys. Especially since he didn't even give Braums any sort of protection when he left to Solan. I'll update the tags once we reach *that* part though so as to not give away my plans until it's actually executed ahaha


	11. Forest Fun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally out of Trinity, Suzaku gets closer to everyone but can't help getting worried for Braums and panicking over Rafael. 
> 
> Damn it, why is Rafael so sweet and why can't King Baxter take proper care of anything he's responsible for?

We continued our journey by heading through the forest. The scent of the earth was something I had honestly forgotten since Solan was made of two small islands. My mother talked about how living on the land differed from the island and I would sit on her lap as she spoke of snow and spring.

Maybe it’s because I’m a Shika but going through the forest was much easier for Rafael and I compared to Braums and Paris.

“Ugh.” Braums made a noise of disgust. “Look at this!”

I raise an eyebrow as he gestured to the dirt on his white boots. I snickered. That’s going to be hard to clean.

“I’m afraid you have to get used to it,” I said. Seeing the privileged experience the hardships of the common people always pleased me.

“Ugh!” A quick glance at Paris revealed he was busy cleaning his pink shirt from some dirt.

Now him, I openly laughed at. This is the universe’s subtle way of telling him off for all the times he flirted around, I bet. At my laughter, Paris huffed and raised the middle finger at me. I smugly gestured to the dirt on his pants and he glared.

Compared to them, Rafael walks as if he was in a tiled corridor. Completely at ease, not a hair out of place, the best way to describe him would be ‘cool’.

“So wait, where exactly are we sleeping tonight?” Paris asked, his eyes darting to me and Rafael.

“We’ll make camp after we covered more distance.” Rafael replied without a single glance towards him.

Paris frowned, “But how will we know where to make camp?”

Rafael turned his head this time, “I will choose a safe spot, if our team leader doesn’t mind.”

Grinning at him, I nodded. How cute, still playing along with our many games of charade. “Go ahead.”

“Let’s hope the bedding I purchased in Trinity will be sufficiently comfortable. I lost my old tent on my first sail out. It was such a lovely space too…” He sighed, “And such a lovely color.”

Paris’ ears perked up as he leapt onto a conversation that _wasn’t_ adventure related. “You lost it? How?”

Braums stayed silent for a moment. “…It was stolen.” He glanced at us and scowled, “By the people I hired to protect me, might I add. So don’t get any funny ideas!”

“So that’s why you’re so picky when choosing people.” I hummed in response. The only thing I could be was grateful all the other adventurers looked grizzled and tough. Though… I looked at him.

His father didn’t even give him some sort of protection. No guards, no shadows, not even a servant, he may disapprove of the trip but he can’t be stupid enough to send the only heir of the kingdom to who-knows-where without some harmful intention.

_Unless…_ I narrowed my eyes, _the king has another heir who he deems more capable._ For now, I’ll leave that for investigation but Braums’ ascension to the throne may be much rockier than meets the eye.

“Well yes,” Braums admitted, “All the guilds who came to me looked…”

He made some hand gestures before huffing and brushing his bangs. The blue locks flutter for a moment before going back to their usual place. He looks like a cat that was about to catch the canary.

“ _You know_. And you three seem so…” He made a face and even more hand gestures.

“Unintimidating?” Rafael suggested.

Baums nodded his head. “Yes! You seemed trustworthy.”

Paris snorted and looked at me, “Ash? Really?”

“Shut it, long ears. I punched you once, I can do it again.” I grinned at him.

Sighing at the threat, Braums said, “Don’t make me regret my decision.”

“Don’t worry, your Braumsness, the Pretenders Guild has your back!” I pumped my first in the air.

After a short while of silence, Paris grinned and said, “So we got a long walk ahead of us, want to play a game?”

I narrowed my eyes and smiled at Paris, “The game doesn’t have ‘strip’ in the title, does it?”

His grin grows wider. “Unfortunately that would be too hard to do while walking, maybe when we make camp.”

“ _What!_ There will be no stripping during this trip.” Braums huffed, his face flushed at the mere thought of such indecency.

“That’s what you say now but I’m sure you’ll change your mind.” Paris’ voice gained its flirty purr as he moved closer to Braums.

_“I doubt it.”_

I shrugged at him, “Paris is rather persuasive.”

Seeing that Braums was unimpressed by this, Paris let off. “Actually, I was going to suggest a game of Truth or Not.”

“Too easy, Pear.” I giggled, “I know everything about you.”

“You _think_ you know everything about me. Plus there’s two people here.” Paris looked at our non-Solan companions.

Braums tilted his head, “What’s Truth or Not?”

Paris’ eyes widened. “You don’t know that game? I thought everybody knows that game?”

“I don’t know that game.” Rafael joined the conversation, making a face of confusion.

I look at Paris, “I guess it’s a Solan thing. Explain away, Paris!”

With a quick explanation, Paris set the stakes, “Ah, how about…whoever wins gets the extra blanket?”

“What? But the extra blanket is mine!” Braums protested.

Paris gave him a cheeky smile. “Not if you don’t _win_.”

That must have stuck Braums’ hidden deviousness. His temper flared and I could see the competitive spirit in his eyes.

“Well rest assured I will most definitely be winning!”

And just like that, our employer forgot that he basically owns us till we reach Oppehn.

“How do we decide who goes first?” He asked.

“Dagger, arrow, spear.” That was essentially, the Revarian version of rock-scissor-paper.

Satisfied by my answer, Braums readied himself. “Dagger…”

“Arrow…” I hummed.

“Spear!” Paris shouted as we all revealed our choices.

I had chosen arrow, Braums and Rafael chose spear, but Paris had dagger. “Damn, one more time! Dagger, arrow, spear!”

I chose spear this time while everyone else chose arrow. Pleased by this, I giggled. “I’m going first so one automatic point for me!”

“Alright, I’ll start of easy on this one, my favourite color is red.”

Braums huffed, “How am I supposed to know that?”

“Truth.” Paris said, handing me a flat look.

Rafael examined me closely, “Hmm, truth. I do see a lot of it in your clothing.”

“That’s right, the answer is truth!” I giggled. “Paris, your turn!”

“Saints Ash, you could have done something a bit more exciting.” Paris scoffed. “Okay, I used to practice kissing with the head of a lettuce.”

I snickered. “The poor lettuce, harassed by a rabbit.”

Braums looked at Paris and said with confidence, “Truth.”

Too busy laughing, I nodded my head, “Truth.”

“Not.” Rafael said, as calm as ever.

Paris grinned, “Well, Rafael wins this round. You really think I’d practicing kissing on a lettuce when I have so many people falling at my feet?”

“Pfft, yeah with how bad your flirting skills were.” I calmed myself down and looked at Rafael. “Your turn, Fai.”

“I speak four languages.” He tilted his head at us.

Narrowing my eyes, I said, “Not.”

Braums followed my lead, “Not.”

“Truth.” Paris said, looking at me and Braums with a challenge in his eyes.

I bet he decided to do that just to stand out like the little shit he is.

“The answer is not. I speak three languages.” Rafael revealed.

I know he speaks Varin and Laiti, but I’m not sure on the third one. “Hmm, Varin, Laiti, and Cwyru?”

“That is correct.” He nodded at me. “Your turn.”

“Okay,” I guess this one will _technically_ be correct. According to mother, my father here used to be the commanding general of Shikan before Rai took over the Phoenix throne. “My father taught me how to fight.”

Braums blinked, “Erm, not?”

Right, he knows we’re from Solan, he probably thinks I learned from someone else.

Paris furrowed his eyebrows, “…Not. You never talked about your dad much.”

“Truth.” Rafael said, his eyes clear as day.

“The answer is truth. My father… He used to be a soldier.” It was technically true but since the only parent I bonded with was my mother, in my heart my father would always be the Japanese man who had watched over my starter years with pride. “It’s Fai’s turn again.”

Our prince in disguise grumbled at this. “Not for long.”

* * *

“Not.” Rafael pointed out.

Paris threw his hands in the air and Braums looks close enough to doing the same. I may have known about this but I’m also mighty impressed by this.

“That’s it, I’m done!” Paris groaned, “That has to be, what, thirty nine?”

“Forty one,” He corrected.

“How?!” Paris asked in frustration.

I giggled at his frustration. “That makes forty one for Rafael, five for me and Paris, and Braums… _zero_.”

A quick glance at Braums revealed he had his head hung, “I can’t believe I’m so bad at this…”

Honestly, a part of me worries for this since he’s the crown prince. He may have been incredibly sheltered, with the highest education in the entirety of Revaria, but… He’ll be eaten alive by the snakes in the court! His innocence is just begging for him to be backstabbed by a trusted person in the future.

“Well…” Paris sighed, “I guess that means Rafael gets the extra blanket.”

Braums makes a keening sound from the back of his throat.

The worried part of me has resolved to raise Braums and Paris to be able to handle the schemes of politics. Paris has a leg up since he’s good with people but Braums has the advantage of his education and looks. He’ll be good for the people but he’ll need someone to cover his back when it comes to tangling with high society.

Ugh, maybe I’ve been _too_ caught up with my own schemes.

“Thank you. It was fun.” Rafael said courteously.

He does look a tad bit more relaxed than a while ago. “You’re lying detection skills are amazing!”

“I think that clearing up ahead would be a good spot to make camp.” He gestured, deflecting the topic easily.

Rafael may not lie, but he does have his way to avoiding the truth.

“Good.” I nod and we begin setting up camp.

As I work on my bedroll, a cold breeze blows down on us. I’ve resigned myself to a cold night. After all, Rafael wouldn’t share a blanket with me. That scene was just there for the romance building after all.

“Paris!” Baums called out. A frowning Paris turned to him to find him standing next to a pile of what _should_ be his tent. “Set up my tent!”

I laughed at Paris. “Well? Go set up master’s tent, bunny boy.”

Said bunny sauntered up to our little prince, giving the Reaver a saucy wink. “You’re just jealous because he ask me and _not_ you.”

I scoffed. “What was that, rabbit stew?”

Braums gave Paris an unamused glance. “… I changed my mind, Ash, go set up my tent.”

At his words, Paris hurriedly began working on it. “No, no, it’s too late! I’ve already stated.”

“Such a dedicated servant,” I laughed, heading to my bedroll and switched to my night clothing. It’ll be at least three days or so before we arrive at Ellaria. Maybe more if the actual game cut out some of the days.

I stand up, stretching myself. Another gust of wind blows and I inwardly curse it out. Unlike Solan or New Trinity, the temperature is much colder on the mainland.

“Ae you cold?” Rafael asked me.

This is starting to remind me of last night… It would be rude to not answer though so I nodded my head. “I am. The nights are colder on the mainland than they are on the islands.”

Rafael’s eyes flicker to the bedroll and then to me. “It would be much more effective if you had an extra blanket. Would you like to use mine?”

He can’t be serious… I looked at his calm face. Not a change, no sign that he was anything but serious.

_Fuck. Fuck. Fuck._

All I can think is a string of fucks. He’s following the romance route, shit all I intended was for Braums and Paris to get together. Wait, wait, I can use this as an opportunity to increase our friendship for the alliance. After all, I’ll depend on him as much as he’ll depend on me to not fuck up Shikan.

Being together with him is something I cannot afford to do, I can’t indulge myself. I’ve played this game so many times. I’ve smiled at his words both here and in my past life. But unlike my past life, there’s no guarantee of a happy ending.

Looking back at him and his earnest expression, my heart melted.

“Suzaku-sama?”

Oh, I’ve been silent for far too long.

“Ah, well… Fai, you’d be cold too, wouldn’t you? And besides, you won that blanket, it wouldn’t be fair of me to take you hard earned winnings, would it?”

He shook his head. “I don’t mind.”

Alright, maybe-maybe I can still delay this. As long as I keep it strictly friendship and nothing more, I'll be able to keep everything in check. Which is easier said than done when Rafael keeps _being so damn nice!_

“I’ll be fine, Rafael. You worry about yourself more, alright?” I gave him a smile in hopes of convincing him.

“If you’re certain…”

Rafael turned away and left to go find a tree.

I shrugged, letting him be as he jumped his tree. Taking out my flute, I began to play a few tunes out of boredom. But well, the moment I heard Baums scolding Paris, I knew I had to go and bother Rafael instead of playing some music.

No offense, Braums, but I’m playing matchmaker for you.

The moment the prince began eyeing me, I got up and ran off to Rafael. “Hey, Fai! Why’d you go up there?”

Rafael looks down at me from his place it the tree. “I’m going to sleep on this tree!”

I glanced back at Braums, was now attempting to figure out the tent with Paris. Nervous that he would think of calling me to help, I begin to try and climb the tree. Reaching up, I manage to haul myself over the lowest tree branch. I winced when I realized how high Rafael was…

Getting up one branch was hard enough, so I resigned myself to staying on this low branch until the tent was complete.

_The things I do for matchmaking…_ I sighed.

The branch dipped and I turned my head up to see Rafael, standing on this very branch.

“Suzaku-sama, do you need help?” He crouches down to me and I move to stand as he has.

“Do you think you could help me go higher?” I grinned, reaching up to steady myself on the tree branch above me.

He looks at me and then at the branches up. Black eyes of steel narrowing as he gazed at the tree like a jigsaw puzzle. “I can.”

“Good, let’s go higher.” I grinned, “Er, how do we get higher?”

“Excuse me for this, Suzaku-sama.” He turned his back to me, still keeping balance on the branch. “Put your arms around my neck.”

This was definitely much better than I envisioned. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I felt a hand hook itself around my knee. Then he adjusted himself and jumped.

He climbed up with a free hand, his feet finding purchase. Maybe he should have been called ‘Tanuki’ instead of Shika with how well he can climb trees! Once we arrive at a thick and sturdy branch, he set me down and moved onto it.

However, it was difficult to maneuver himself onto the branch since he had to move above me.

In essence, it was a tree trunk kabedon!

“D-do you need help, Fai?” I asked him, flushing from how close he is.

Unlike that time on the ship when my back hit him, this was different. This was him being close to me, face-to-face. Talia’s horns, his eyes don’t look like steel but instead they were like platinum.

Platinum black eyes, that are so close I could see my own reflection in them.

“Not at all.” He replied, settling next to me.

Now that he wasn’t blocking the view, I gasped at the sight of the setting sun over the trees. The sky is tinted orange and pink, like a fire blessed by Talia. The trees are nothing but dark silhouettes that paint this gorgeous sky. I can see thin clouds, tinted a different shade of pink, gracing and tying this picture with a sense of natural splendor.

_“It’s beautiful…”_

“… Yes.” Rafael replied, his voice calm and cool like a river stream. “It is.”

* * *

Night comes around and we all head to sleep but the chill has me shaking even with my bedroll. I don’t care about the hardness of the ground. The cold is nipping at me even with a blanket!

The grass has dewed over and another wind has me shuddering. I bet Rafael is alright with his extra blanket. And at least, he hasn’t approached me to share the blanket yet.

The sound of grass crunching beside me has me pulling out the ninjato before I can even think.

“It’s me, Rafael.” The voice has me blinking away the last haziness of sleep.

My blade is pointed at Rafael’s throat, shining in the scant moonlight. His eyes don’t judge, in fact I almost see approval in them. We stay like that, simply taking in the scene. Rafael is holding the extra blanket and here I am with a sword at his throat.

“I… You scared me, Fai.” I relax my hold and sheathe the blade, letting it fall back to its place beside me. “What brings you here instead of in your tree?”

“You looked…cold. So I brought you the extra blanket.” He looks away, pulling the blanket up higher for us to see.

I can tell he’s cold too, from the way his muscles tense as he fought the urge not to shiver. It would be selfish of me to take the blanket without at least offering him the chance to enjoy his well-deserved blanket.

“Alright, then… Let’s share the blanket. You’re cold too.” I pointed out, moving to make space for him on the bed roll.

He looks for a moment, his eyes tracking my movements. Then with a single move, the blanket is draped over and he’s in the blanket with me.

Unlike the many times we’ve shared the bed in the ship, this is somehow…different.

It must be the close proximity between us. How we’re facing each other, face to face, close enough to feel the other’s breath. I try my best to close my eyes and sleep but… It’s hard when I see Rafael so close to me, where his eyes don’t look like steel like they do from afar but instead like the platinum it really is.

I open my eyes when he shifts from the blanket. “Are you alright, Fai?”

“I…” He hesitates, his mouth twisting itself to a worried frown. “It’s too hot.”

He gets out of the bed roll almost immediately. “Is this... This is what embarrassment feels like doesn’t it?”

“Rafael?” Those words, I recognize it almost immediately. “It’s alright.”

“I-No, it’s not. But I suppose it is understandable when being close to someone so… enchanting.”

His flushed face made me flush in turn. He thought I was enchanting and well, I thought he’s as beautiful as things could get. The moonlight makes him prettier. It kisses him with the gentle silver and makes the jade white skin look as if it too is made of moonlight. His cheeks are stained with the red tinge of embarrassment.

How cute.

I let him be and settle back in the blankets. There’s still some things I need to adjust now that I’ve started to think about it more. There’s the pirates for one, they aren’t Rai’s but they _have_ to be someone’s because the fact they chose the boat of the prince is a bit _too_ coincidental, even for a route with plenty of pirates.

Another thing to note is the complete lack of security for the crown prince of Revaria. It’s almost as if the king is _hoping_ he’d end up dead in a ditch somewhere. I _do_ know that the king did look a bit disappointed when Braums comes back alive in the game and he’s a lot stricter on him to the point the man is sheltered and completely lacking in the scheming department.

The last note would be what I can afford to do when we get to Oppehn. First of all, Rafael needs to kill the king, then I want him to pretend to assassinate me while pretending to be someone else so that it would look like Rafael _wasn’t_ the assassin and explain my heritage through that. After that, he’d bring Lorelai there for safety while I cultivate Braums, do my own schemes for Rai, and hopefully have the two Shikas be granted asylum under me.

It would be brilliant. Fai gets Lorelai to safety, Braums and Paris get together, I’m close enough that I can teach Braums how to not die in court, and I get a place to protect me from Rai. Then once I take back the Phoenix throne, I’ll have a working treaty and relationship with Revaria that Shikan can’t deny due to Revaria’s hand in protecting me.

But why do I feel like something would definitely go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I was going through my specific save I needed to recount events properly, I couldn't write for about 10 minutes since I was too busy laughing at the fact I named the guild 'Fuck' and promptly forgot about it. Ah, past me did a great job *snicker* Anyway, I did mention how suspicious I was of Braums' father for not having any sort of protection which will definitely come into play soon. For now, here's some bonding moments and Rafael doing the tree thing! As for the three languages, I figured it would be the Revarian language which I figured was what Varin was, Laiti being Shikan language (Based on Talia's name) and then Cwyru for the Cubi. I figured I'd base the Cubi more on the British Isles with heavy basis on Wales since rabbit.


	12. Paris, Please Shut Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Pretenders Guild end up finding the abandoned Shika Shrine and our resident Shika bond over their shared culture and the memories related to their religion. 
> 
> Oh, and Paris is a whiner but we all know that.

“How much _furtheeeer_?” Paris whined.

Gods help me.

Through gritted teeth, our little prince replied, “A _long_ way.”

We’ve tried conversations. Topics such as childhood games came up, Braums revealed he was mainly busy with etiquette classes and other lessons but played board games such as War. Paris spoke of his time playing in the fields and I spoke of playing traditional Shika games with my mother and then with Paris.

I knew Rafael couldn’t contribute much since I bet most of his childhood days is focused on survival and whatever assassin classes have. Maybe I should draw him into playing shogi with me? Or maybe a game of chopstick?

Tuning out the sounds of Paris’ whining, I peered as far as I could.

“Ah, look! A fork!” I smiled. I was anticipating this, after all, I’ve always wanted to visit a larger shrine.

That and I get to do some PR on Shika. Soft power has many uses but the countries here don’t see it yet. Luckily for Shikan, soft power had shown its uses in the modern era of earth. I’ll have to think about the image of the Shika and what better way than to make us out as people with a rich and deep culture and highly respectful as well?

“A fork? What in Revaria would a fork be doing- Oh. You meant a fork in the road. Of course.” Braums sighed.

The more he spoke the more I thought of the shit I’ll be dealing with. Oh Talia, I’ll be teaching a man who has been stuck with the court for his entire life how to scheme and use the cleverness I know he has. And I’m someone who has essentially lived on an island as a musician, with knowledge built up on what my mother taught me.

We slowed as we reached the fork of the road. For a moment I’m reminded of Robert Frost’s ‘The Road Not Taken’, as I looked upon them both. The one on the left was ironically less travelled. With more grass on the path than the solid dirt of the right, I could almost hear the poem now.

“Should we go right? I’ fairly certain the map said that was the fastest way.” He bit his lip.

I shook my head. “Just because it’s the fastest doesn’t mean it’ll be the best. Remember, Braums, sometimes you have to make the roundabout choice instead of the fastest or the seemingly easy choice.”

He blinked at me, swirling blue of innocence that lacked wisdom but cleverness that held knowledge. It’s honestly the strangest conundrum when it came to him. Innocent but knowledgeable, naïve but still cautious.

“I see, I shall keep that in mind.” Braums nodded his head. “So what do you say then?”

I examined the paths first. I mumbled the poem’s final and iconic lines. _“Two roads diverge in a wood, and I took the one less travelled by.”_

“Hm?” Braums raised an eyebrow at me, “What was that?”

I waved him off. “It’s a poem I once heard. Anyway, we’ll be taking the left. The right holds more dangers.”

“Yes, recently a lot of bandits have been settling in the area.” Rafael nodded at my decision.

Even if I didn’t remember this scene, I would have gone with the direction of the poem for the sake of it.

“Ah… I wasn’t aware of that, thank you.” He looked at the paths thoughtfully. No doubt he’ll be thinking about the merit of my words again.

If I’m honest, the only reason I can think about schemes is thanks to my past life. I was fond of reading books with court drama and political stakes. A favorite would be ‘The Eldest Prince and His General’ by a Chinese author whose pen name was ‘Don’t be Afraid to Cry’. Some of my tips were what the prince had told the soldier he was raising to be a general. Plus my past life family and I had a habit of watching historical documentaries.

“See? The fastest way isn’t always the best.” I grinned with pride. “But that’s why you have us! The Pretender’s Guild is here to keep you all safe.”

We walked down the left path. Passing my trees that made it colder than it should be thanks to their shade and other kinds of forest wildlife. But as we went further and further, I found the trees still as thick but the plants seems to be thriving more than they should…

“Wait, what’s that up ahead?”

“It’s…an old shrine?” Braums frowned in confusion.

Excitement bubbled as we paused in our tracks. Turning to Braums, I gave him an excited grin.

“Is it alright if we stop by for a moment?” Mother used to speak of the shrines back in Shikan. How they’re large, sat upon dozens of steps, with tori gates that held statues of the shrine’s guardian spirits such as wolves or foxes.

“Yes! I agree to stopping!” Paris exclaimed with a big grin. "We'vce been _crawling_ though hot, _hilly_ land. Have some mercy, Oh Lord Braums."

Paris the Whiner sounds like a good title for when he enters Braums’ family tree. With how readily he jumped at stopping, I’m surprised he didn’t thump his feet like a rabbit. Braums eyed the path and then our, or well, my face. He must have seen how much this meant to me because he looks at the shrine and gives us the go ahead to stop and explore.

“We were making good time, but…I suppose it would do no harm to investigate.” Braums said and without further ado, we went to the shrine.

The shrine was only a few steps up. There’s no gate, only markers on the side to indicate the separation from the mortal realm and the spiritual realm. The shrine itself is green in color, as if hoping to blend in with the forest. With it being abandoned, it must have been a secret shrine that was found out by the king and his men.

Still, I observed proper practices. Bowing to the entrance, I walked on the side. Rafael followed me, bowing to the entrance twice. I suppose the second bow would be in honor of Lorelai. Braums and Paris shrugged and followed our lead, asking us questions after we had finally stepped foot on the grounds.

“Why did you bow?” Paris asked, his ears perked up. He knows that I answer his questions related to Shika though only if he asks or if the situation calls for it.

It was Rafael who answered in his calm voice, most likely, Lorelai taught him plenty about shrine traditions. “The markers indicate that we are entering the spiritual realm of the gods. We bow in order to show respect as well as to greet them. We walked on the side because the center is reserved for the gods.”

“Ah yes, the Shika have Gods instead of Saints.” Braums tilted his head as we approached a small statue of Talia.

Moss had filled the grooves and features of the statue, hanging down her antlers and giving it a much more morose and solemn feel. The mere sight of it sent a reverent tingle down my spine. Now _this_ is what a true shrine looks like instead of the smaller ones on Trinity and Belcat.

As Rafael spoke of the tale of Talia and her father, Lirio, as they forced the gods from the Beyond Palace, my mind wandered to my mark. According to that story, Talia had a son born from her love of the people. That son was named Rizen, who then married a flower goddess named Shakyula. Their child had the flower marking of the royal family and thus it is said that the true royal family will be marked by the sakura flower.

“And… do you two believe that?” Baums asked, eyes wide at another perspective to religion.

“Yes.” Rafael replied.

I gave my own smile at him. “I do. Talia has protected me on many occasions.”

“What a coincidence, we have a god too. His name is King Baxter.” Paris threw a snide remark and I scoffed at him.

While I do share his sentiments, insulting the king in front of his son is kind of a dick move. Then again, I’m only saying that because Braums looks uncertain. If it were anyone else, I’d probably cussing him out too.

“I’ll be heading inside,” I waved a hand at them, “Be back soon.”

“I’ll join you.” Rafael says and we walk together inside the shrine.

It’s beautiful in a solemn abandoned sort of way. Light streams through holes, shining upon the largest statue of Talia I have ever seen. Her gentle face and large horns have sparkling golden sun drops. Even with the moss that creeps upon the grey, and flowering vines hang from her horns, the art and devotion are clearly evident. It takes my breath away as I struggle to imagine what the shrine must have looked like before being abandoned.

That’s when I notice the entrance to the back. Going through it I find a large pond with lily pads and flowers. The plants here are _thriving_ with plenty of space and unlike most of the forest floor outside of the shrine, they don’t have to worry about competition for sunlight much. One flower I noticed are water lilies.

“It’s a wishing pool.” Rafael pointed out as we both stopped at the large pond.

“A wishing pool…” I looked at him. “Do you want to make a wish together?”

He looks at me with a tilt in his head. “That depends, do you have an offering?”

“I have some seraphs.” I smiled, handing him a seraph. “Let’s make a wish together.”

The way he gazed at the seraph I handed him was as if I handed him something more. I wonder if he was ever able to fulfill prayers and the like here.

“Did you think about your wish?” I asked him.

“…Yes.” He holds the coin up.

My own wish was simple. After all, with a life so complicated, sometimes you want something plain and simple. _I want all of us, Paris, Braums, Rafael and I, to stay friends._

“We’ll toss the coins on three, one, two, three!”

_Plink!_

The coins fell into the pool with a small splash. The pool’s surface rippling as the coins sank down.

“…It’s a pity such a beautiful place was abandoned.” I sighed at the sorry state of the building.

He kept his gaze at the water as he replied. “Not out of free will. The king had placed a cap on how many shrines we could build. Some of the Shika had tried to make another place, a secret shrine where we could come together and do our worship in peace but those began to be raided. This shrine is one such raided place.”

I place a hand on his shoulder. “Your sister… What’s she like?”

“She’s not my biological sister. She was actually a shrine maiden from one of the secret shrines. We shielded them from the harm of the king and we grew closer. Eventually, she called me ‘big brother’ and I called her my little sister. My only hope is that she’s safe even if Rai holds her captive.” Rafael’s voice held wistfulness and a sigh that ached my own heart.

Giving him a comforting smile, I told him. “She sounds like a nice person.”

“She is.” He takes a deep breath. “I’m sure you two would get along.”

We stay there for a moment, enjoying the atmosphere before we left it to find Paris and Braums speaking to one another.

The two of them were mumbling something about their similar opinions on Saints in front of a faded mural that depicted Talia’s light shining upon the gods and the creation story Rafael had told. Blinking at their proximity, I wonder how many things have happened while I was with Rafael.

They two of them noticed us. Braums tilted his head, “Are you finished?”

“We are. Let’s go.” I smiled at him, feeling lighter than ever.

* * *

Hitting the road, Braums seemed preoccupied. His mind whirling around as he looked at me from the corner of his eyes.

“Ash?” He finally voiced out. “You mentioned being named after, er, Suzaku, was it? Would you like to tell the story?”

He must have been interested since he’s starting to see Shika as more than whatever racist bs the court has been feeding him. I’m rather happy to share the story of my namesake. It passes the time too.

“The tale of Suzaku is also related to the rest of the four guardians. You see, Suzaku was a phoenix that protected the south which is why it’s so warm. Up on the north would be Genbu, the large turtle whose shell protected Talia’s father. The east is protected by Seiryuu the dragon, whose skill to fight was used to protect the humans and finally we have Byakko of the west, whose power can have others shudder in terror yet used it to further the cause.”

My hands began flying around as I got absorbed in the tale. “You see, Suzaku was the third of the four to be blessed by Talia. The first was Genbu, who lived in the darkness of the caves. Talia’s father, Lirio, had found the turtle when he was gravely injured. The turtle had protected him from his attackers and healed him with his waters. Seiryuu was found next by Talia.”

Braums raised an eyebrow as I began my tale, explaining each and every one of the guardians. I told him how Seiryuu’s rains ushered the spring and the tale of his wisdom that helped with the war. Then I spoke of my namesake’s protection of the Talia, sacrificing itself and being revived. Finally, I told him the tale of Byakko, the powerful white tiger, who protected and preserved with pride and strength.

“My, I never thought the Shika had such detailed beings. It’s different compared to the Saints who gained saintly hood for great deeds, the gods seem more like natural beings that are simply…there.” He looked down on his dirtied boots. “…I should apologize to you all for my previous actions. I suppose I was rather jumpy after the last adventurers had made off with my tent.”

Paris slung an arm around his shoulders. “Don’t worry about it, Braums! I guess you must have had _quite_ the scare.”

“ _Quite_ would be an understatement. They tied me up while I was sleeping and made off with the tent, leaving a note that said something about thanking me for the money but hating my attitude, the nerve of them!” This time, Braums was animated, his hands flying around as he vented his anger.

I scoffed. “Idiots. At least that means you get someone better in the form of us! Who needs no name guilds when you have, the Pretenders Guild! Who wouldn’t feel safe with Fai, me and, I guess you can count Paris.”

“What do you mean, ‘I guess’!” Paris scowled.

I laughed. “It means exactly what it means!”

Playfully angered, he grabbed me round the neck and gave me a noogie. I was too busy laughing at him to escape, goading him even with phrases such as ‘bring it, rabbit boy!’ and ‘what was that, grass muncher?’ Rafael watched us with some form of amusement and Braums was hard pressed not to laugh.

All in all, I can happily report that the Pretenders Guild is on the sturdy path of friendship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mainly based shrine etiquette on Shinto shrine etiquette since the small shrines in Trinity held a bell and a bowl of seraphs. Shinto shrines have a bell and a box to throw the coin. (Often it's a 5 yen coin due to 5 yen being a homophone for the word 'Goenn' which represents good relations and is a lucky number) Also, Eldest Prince and His General was a reference to a Chinese webnovel called 'Female General and Eldest Princess' by Please Don't Laugh. It's wonderful, a mixture of court drama and military strategy as well as being a wlw type novel with almost everyone in the book being gay. 
> 
> On another note, yay! I did some more Shika religion drops lol That plus Fai and Suzaku talk more about Lorelai and make a wish together. On Rafael being religious, I think that would be thanks to Lorelai being a shrine maiden before she was with Fai. Rafael would most likely find the religion aspect that Lorelai gave him something to think about. For me, I think it would also have a hand in his decision to retire from his profession. Most likely, he didn't want to 'sully' or 'dirty' Lorelai with his presence since Shinto belief on death and cleanliness is very important as death and killing is thought to dirty the person due to its immorality and thus impurity. It's a lot more than that but those are the basics.
> 
> And yes, I added in Braums' apology because he never really did apologize despite his character growth, especially since Paris' backstory as a former servant of a Reave noble family but ended up with arrested parents and a burned eye, no doubt that statement hit far closer than home than it should have. 
> 
> Thank you so much fo reading! *bows* As well as for tolerating on my lore drops and me adding the Four Divine Guardians into the lore of the Shika. Hehe, I wanted to have that in there since I like to think of the divine beast with the pretenders guild. Ash being well, Suzaku, Rafael could be Byakko, Braums would be Seiryuu and Paris would be Genbu lolol


	13. Through the Forest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suzaku and the rest managed to get through the last bit of forest. Oh yeah, there's music.

“Hey, Ash?” Paris said.

I made a noise of acknowledgement. Today was a tiring day and we had finally settled our camp. Braums had went to his tent early as Paris talked about Solan. I guess he was thinking too much about Solan to try and go to sleep.

“What do you think we’ll do after this?”

Crickets chirped loudly and all I could think of when he asked me that was whether or not I’d end up dead.

“I think we could enjoy life in Oppehn. With the money we have you could start another restaurant and I can be entertainment.” The lie tastes like burnt bread on my tongue.

I never told him my secret and the first person to know is Rafael. A Shika we met a few weeks but whom I’ve known about since forever here. I want to tell him about what the flower means. What I _actually_ plan to do but… If he knows my plans could go haywire and he could be killed for knowing.

It’s easier this way. He doesn’t die for a secret that was never his to begin with and I make sure he gets a protected life as Braums’ Consort. Or well, as protected as life in a court goes.

“Paris?”

“Mmm?”

Come to think of it, for all the times I’ve been with him on the island, I forgot to ask him something. “Why did you approach me anyway? It can’t just be because I’m a Shika.”

He hummed. “I guess I went up to you because of your eyes.”

“My eyes?” Of all the things, it’s my eyes. Maybe he _is_ a rabbit in Cubi skin.

“Yeah. Your eyes may be bright but they had a sadness in them. Like you were told to carry the world.”

Crickets filled the silence as I sighed and closed my eyes. Weight of the world, huh? I guess he’s right in some ways.

“Paris, in the future when I tell you something, something that’s been secret for a long time, can you forgive me for hiding it from you?”

I can hear his laugh, deep and rumbly like thunder.

“You must have had a good reason for hiding it. So, I’m sure I will.” I can practically hear his smile when he says, “Ash, you weren’t the one who switched all my underwear with rabbit themed ones, were you?”

“Wha-I’m innocent, Pear!”

“Yeah sure, Ash.”

I huffed at this. “Goodnight, _Paris_.”

* * *

That night, I woke to the sight of Rafael’s running. I sighed. Of course, he has to secure the camp and ensue Rai’s men didn’t hurt us. Especially when we have two secret royals here.

Still, I can’t sleep until I see him come back. Even if I already knew he’d be fine, the worry didn’t leave. So I stayed up and began playing away my stress.

My hands are sensitive which is good for wind instruments since they needed to be held lightly. The slight wind that passed beneath my fingers as I played is another que on whether I was giving too much or too little air. It was brilliant.

The melody I played were things from my past life as well as what I played in Paris’ restaurant. By the time Rafael came back, I was playing a Shikan love ballad my mother sang to me. According to her, it’s a song that my father had clumsily sang to her in his attempts to court her. I guess he was successful since they did get together in the end.

_My love, the wind is fairer,_

_And the seas are calmer._

_For your smile can tame them both,_

_And it has tamed my wild heart._

_My love, the sun shines brightly,_

_And the moon is full and silver._

_And yet your beauty makes them dimmer,_

_With every word you speak._

_My love, you are the spring thaw,_

_And the blizzards of winter._

_You are gentle like a trickling stream,_

_Yet strong like the roaring river._

_My love, I know you’re too good for me._

_By Talia’s light I can see,_

_How lovely you are to me._

_Have pity on this fool, my dear._

“I simply can’t bear to leave.”

The sound of another person has me stopping. I don’t need to turn my head around to know that he’s there. Lowering the flute, I set it on my lap.

 _“Welcome back, Fai.”_ I spoke softly in Laiti.

Turning around, I scan him for injuries. There’s nothing. Not even blood on him. Good. He’s alright. My shoulders relax and I release a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

Rafael raises an eyebrow but settles beside me easily. _“…I’m home.”_

I giggle at the returned greeting. Before the Shika had settled in their respective country, they used to be nomads. As such, the concept of home referred to the people. The greeting varies from friends, family, and loved ones, as it also points out how close they are to the speaker. What I had greeted him with was the friendship one.

“What are you doing awake?” He asked me, looking at my flute. “I doubt you woke up because you wanted to play.”

I shook my head. “I woke up after I realized you left. Did you encounter much trouble?”

“Not at all. Only two people and I’ve taken care of that already. Did I disturb your sleep, Suzaku-sama?” Rafael adjusted himself close to me.

“Not at all, Fai.” I smile. “I couldn’t go back to sleep so I decided to play.”

We stayed silent. Gazing up at the dense foliage and the tent that held the sleeping prince, I wonder what he’s thinking.

“…The song you played… That was _Tankoli,_ wasn’t it?”

“My father sang that song to my mother when he was still courting her. She described his voice to be the sound of nails and splintered wood. But she did say his skill with an erhu was better than his singing so he must have tried that after singing.” I smiled at the thought. I don’t know what my father looked like but I do know what he was like. “Where did you hear it?”

He stayed still for a moment. The silence filled by crickets and birds chirping. We both seemed to be engulfed in the thoughts of our own and what the song meant. I can’t find a way to describe it other than a silence of shared memories.

“I remember hearing it when I was bringing Lorelai to a restaurant. Someone was singing it to a woman on a balcony. The woman was annoyed and threw a bucket of water over her window. I asked her what he was doing and she explained how the courtship process worked.”

I hum the song for a moment and glance at him from the corner of my eyes. “Do you want to court someone in the future?”

“I-I do not know.”

We make eye contact. And once again I find the platinum of those shining eyes, filled with uncertainty and confusion. I nod my head at him.

“I understand. I have resigned myself to either dying before I could ever have the pleasure by Rai’s hand or to be dealing with the court without a chance for genuine love.” Shaking my head, I told him, “We should rest. We have a long day tomorrow. Goodnight, Rafael.”

He nods his head and stands up, his expression unreadable.

“Goodnight, Suzaku-sama.”

* * *

The next day, I sang some songs to pass the time. It helped that I was in shape as walking over the hills is both tiring and boring. Luckily, the songs seemed to have us in higher spirits. But in the end, even I couldn’t muster up the breath to sing.

The only thing I want to cuss at right now is the sun for being so damn bright. The trees have long since faded to something less dense, meaning the sun could get to the ground here. It also meant the shade of the trees aren’t here for us now.

“Do you hear that?” Paris’ ears jerked up.

“It’s water.” Rafael revealed, and the tension in his shoulders relaxed somewhat. I guess even the infallible looking Fai can be tired like the rest of us.

The excitement at the mention of water pulled us through the last hill as we stumbled upon a river. The river is a sight of crystal clear water with a hint of blue to its depth. In this Talia’s armpits dry ass weather, the imagined cool against my skin is a balm to the tired soul.

With a grin I looked at them all. “I’m sure you’re all thinking what I’m thinking?”

“I’m not leaving here until we’ve had a bath.” Paris nodded his head.

Braums, the employer, made a noise of agreement. “A bath does sound lovely. Very well, but I wish to bathe alone.”

I nodded my head in agreement. I know how this will end but ah well, “Fai, would you like to bathe with me?”

He shook his head. “I would like bathe alone as well.”

I smiled at him in understanding. Though a part of me had hoped to see those tattoos of his. If only to remind myself that I’m not the only one marked with a fate I didn’t ask for. It’s a bit selfish but then again… The tattoos ae probably a cover up since a shirtless Fai would bolster my morale and my memory greatly.

As we split up, I placed my things on a flat rock and began my bath. The cool water against my skin drew me to a meditative state. A cleansing bath was exactly what I needed. There were certain mantras and so on when meditating sometimes and in my case, they tended to be prayers. I floated on my back, closing my eyes and taking deep, calming breaths.

_Nali makara omu wako taralu-_

“AAHHH!”

The scream broke my concentration and had me spluttering the water that had previous been embracing me. Standing up, I coughed out whatever water entered my mouth. Talia’s horns, I may have expected it but that still caught me off guard!

With a sigh, I headed over and found Braums splashing water and spouting reproachful phrases. Paris meanwhile was having a gay old time, laughing his rabbit-y ass off. All I could do was watch for a moment. Should I interrupt them or go looking for Rafael instead?

“Ash!” Braums called out. Looks like my choice was taken from me.

I smiled and wadded over. “Yes, boss?”

Arrogantly, he turned away and gestured at Paris. “Since my bath has been interrupted by this- this _brute_ I shall have you as my guard.”

Rubbing my head on the back of my neck, I looked at Paris. “Sorry Pear, looks like you need to bathe somewhere else.”

The laughing rabbit left us, his ears folding to cover themselves from the water Braums still splashed at him. Once he left, Braums scowled in his direction. I could hear him grumbling about brutes and Cubis among other things.

“Are you alright there, Braums?” I asked in amusement.

He huffed at me. “No, I am _not_ alright. That brute snuck up on me while I was bathing and yelled- he yelled ‘BOO’ right in my ear!”

“Well a little teasing does no harm.” I hummed as I set my things down to the new spot.

Braums frowned. “I-I suppose so…”

“There will be times where a sense of humor will do you good more than a sense of propriety.” There, that’s my kingly wisdom of the day. Though whether or not he’ll actually listen to me is up to the Gods.

Those blue eyes seemed to find me the most interesting thing suddenly as he said, “Ash, you’re the leader of the guild, correct?”

Confused by the sudden interest, I nod my head. “I am.”

“You must know a lot about leading and making choices, as you’ve already proven. I… wanted to know if you could, er…” With the way he was floundering, I couldn’t help but rescue him from saying it out loud.

“You want my help, or more specifically some pointers on leading.” I can’t believe it. My job cannot be done easier. He’s _handing_ this to me on a silver platter with a ‘please’ and ‘thank you’.

He nods his head shyly. “Exactly! I know I’m not the best at…this. And I’ve grown even more aware of my lack of knowledge thanks to this journey.”

Ah, that made sense. Looks like my little tips have finally made themselves known. “I can teach you. How about later, when we each Ellaria?”

His bright smile warmed my heart. This time he wasn’t biting his lip in hopes to keep his face calm and collected. That’s good, hopefully one day he can let go of the preconceptions his father had given to him.

“Thank you, Ash.”

“The pleasure’s all mine, Braums.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't able to post this yesterday since school decided to add in more than one activity to do :^) Wow Unibersaytay Ugh Anyway, that's not the point the point is, I made a whole Shika love ballad based on sayings of beauty and other such stuff. Now for some interesting anecdotes on the things. Tankoli means 'The person who holds my heart' aka 'My love' Tan being Tan being 'The person (with)' since it shows possession based on 'Ta' as in 'They' with Ko being mine and Li being heart. So together it's Tankoli. Yay for kinda useless made up language stuff! 
> 
> If I look at it, that means that Talia actually means 'The Heart' which gives an interesting point of view on Shika culture if I look at it with the language I made for this!
> 
> The meditation chant, 'Nali makara omu wako taralu' would be 'The heavy heart will leave (its) worries-' with 'Nali' being 'The heart' or specifically 'There is a heart', 'makara' being 'burden', omu connexts the sentence with 'wako' being 'worry' and taralu is 'to leave behind'. 
> 
> But yeah, that's me making up the language as I go lol other than that, we have Suzaku now has Braums trust to teach him how to lead more and more bonding time between Suzaku and Paris. That scene was supposed to be on Solan but I got a bit lazy ahahah So now I shoved that on the way to Ellaria! 
> 
> Thank you for reading, have a nice day!


	14. Ellarian Worries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Pretenders Guild reaches Ellaria. Suzaku confesses their worry to Rafael and they eat some fresh ramen.

After that, we arrived at Ellaria with plenty of Braums fussing and complaining as well as the many jabs at Paris. Rafael and I stayed quiet. Maybe it’s the river or the fact we were heading to a town but it seems we’ve been pushing now more than ever through the forest.

“Finally!” Paris exclained. “An inn.”

Braums huffed. “Yes, we’ll settle in the inn then go looking for a restaurant. I’m sure I saw one on my way here.”

Paris leapt at this sentence, an eager praise at the tip of his tongue. “An excellent idea, Lord Braums! You’re quite observant.”

“I’m still mad at you.” Braums scowled.

His words caused the perked up ears of Paris to deflate. They look less like rabbit ears and more like sad vegetables.

“Aw.”

As we walked in, I glanced over head. “It’s a good thing we arrived here right on time, it looks like it could rain.”

The mention of rain has the prince blanching. “Yes. Good timing, indeed.”

We settled our stuff, going through the motions as I lost myself in thought once more. We’re in Ellaria. One more forest, then it would be Trinity, then another forest and it’ll be… Oppehn. My mouth is dry from that thought alone. We’re closer to completing my plan. Guilt ate away from me as I followed them to the restaurant.

Rafael must have seen my nerves as he fell back to talk to me.

“Are you alright, Suzaku-sama?” Hearing his voice, my heart calms down a bit.

“Not totally… We’re already in Ellaria. My plan has been smooth so far.” I reviewed the basics of it in my head. Get the trust of Rafael, check. Get the trust of Braums, check. Teach Braums some tricks to not die in court, check. Reach Oppehn without much incident, so far check. Kill the king, pretend to be almost assassinated, get Lorelai, reveal the truth, and get rid of Rai?

Not yet.

Rafael glances at me. “You are worried because it’s going _too_ smoothly for you.”

“Yes. Rai may not know I exist, but our party has you and that’s reason enough to mess with our plans. I believe he intended for you to die or complete his request.” I reach my hand to touch the flower mark as if to reassure myself. “If you completed his request, his goal will be finished but if you died while trying that would be two people out of the picture.” That’s the thing, it would be sloppy of Rai to simply have the king killed without killing the legitimate heir if he actually wanted the Revarian throne to himself as well.

_Unless he intended to put a puppet king?_ I frown at the thought. Maybe he simply wanted someone less Shika racist like Baxter, but then there’s a possibility he tried to put political unrest. With the way good old King Baxter treated his legitimate son, there has to be an _illegitimate_ son.

“That is understandable. I cannot say what his motives are for putting a price on the king’s head.”

“I suppose for now we’ll have to be on guard.” We watched Paris and Braums at the front, Paris whining for Braums’ forgiveness and Braums fighting his laughter.

Rafael and I share a look. One of both understanding and sorrow. Unlike Braums, our secrets are much deeper than his. We know the fate of those who know our secret.

We’d rather not have them die.

* * *

By the time we reached the restaurants, my mind has pulled back from its confusion. I can’t do anything for now. Rafael can’t cut down Rai prematurely so it’s not like _he_ can go and kill Rai. Too bad, it would have made everything easier.

The restaurant is rather beautiful, I have no doubt that it must be a hundred seraphs per bowl. It’s also empty too, which suits me just fine. After all, it makes it easy to claim the table near the back. The fresh scent of miso and ramen tickled my nose.

“This is a nice town,” Paris said appreciatively. “What town are we in, anyway?”

Braums scoffed at us. “You truly are a brute. We’re in Ellaria.”

“Isn’t that in the mountains?” Paris raised an eyebrow.

With the shake of his head, Braums took his seat, Paris sitting beside him. I took my own seat that was offered by Rafael and he sat beside me. It’s pretty funny how the secret royalty here are seated right in front of each other.

“Excuse me!” Paris grinned, “Can we get some wine around here?”

“Red iced tea for me,” I replied happily. Unlike Paris I’m not eager to get inebriated, not when we’re already one town away from the capital.

“Water for me,” Braums added his hand brushing his bangs in an effort to look as if he didn’t care.

“Black tea for me.”

The shop keeper smiled, “Alright! That would be one rice wine, one red iced tea, one black tea, and one water!”

I don’t need to check who wants the black tea. Though I expected him to get chocolate tea. Wait, that reminds me! I reached into my pocket.

“Hey Fai, remember how I said I’d get you some mainland chocolate?” I double checked it. Luckily the forest to Ellaria was cold. Hopefully it didn’t melt.

He turned to me with confusion. “You mean from the competition on the boat?”

“Yeah, that!” Handing him the chocolate, I grinned sheepishly. “I bought this in Trinity and forgot to give it to you.”

He took the chocolate. His expression may not match how happy he is to get chocolate but I can tell he likes it from the way his eyes regard it. It’s cute. Like a cat, even without the weird cat eye shine.

“…Thank you.” He stashes the chocolate.

Paris stretched his arms. I can hear the cracks and pops of tired mucles. “Man, my feet will never recover from all that walking!”

“I think I have blisters…” Braums sighed.

Laughing at them, I commented on the forest instead. “The forest looked like it would never end!”

We all glanced at a quiet and confused Rafael. He looks back at us.

“Ah… Should I participate in complaining as well?”

_Be still my heart,_ I think jokingly. Rafael can be so cute one moment and then so badass the next. That’s probably why he’s my favorite route of all time. The fact he’s so…Rafael, makes it hard to not fall for him. And that’s probably why I should be stricter with myself.

“It’s a bonding exercise!” I grin.

_No falling in love at all, Suzaku!_

There, nothing like a mental scolding to reign you back in, right?

“I see…” He puts a hand on his cheek in thought. “Then… All of you are sweating and thus do not smell very nice.”

I giggled. His complaint sounded more like he was stating the sky is blue and the sea is salty. At least he got the spirit of it!

At his eager look, I patted his shoulder. “Good job, Fai!”

The restaurant owner comes back with our drinks. We quickly sorted out the drinks, handing it to the person it belonged to. Taking my drink, I lifted it up.

“Alright, I’ll make the toast!”

The others followed suit, lifting up their drinks.

“To the Pretender’s Guild!”

Paris let out a laugh. “I’ll drink to that!”

The glasses clinked and I drank most of it in one go. What can I say? The journey to Ellaria has made me thirstier than a fish in the desert.

“Have some wine, Rafael. It’ll make you forget the smell.” Paris made a gesture with his cup.

Rafael glanced at it with serious thought. “I suppose that might work.”

Braums shook his head at us. “No one has ever spoken to me like you three do.”

_I’d imagine so, Princeling. None of the people around you would like to receive the ire of the royal family._ Humming at his words, I waited for it. After all, if I remember correctly, this is where he admits we’re friends.

“Where I live, no one would dare tell me I smell bad, or make fun of me, or _try to interrupt my bath._ ” The last statement was pointed at Paris, who crossed his arms and pouted.

_“I said I was sorry…”_

“I guess I never truly had…” Ah, and there it is!

Paris stopped pouting as his ears perked up. “Had…?”

A blush grew on Braums’ face. A grin grew on mine.

“Ah, let me help you with that. _Frr-”_

“-iends…” Paris finished, a shit eating grin on his face.

“…I-I’ve never had any _friends_ before. I mean- I understand that it makes me out to be inept but…” He scowled at us and drank his water.

Rafael gave us a surprised look. “You called me friend before but I assumed that was a… How do you call it? Figure of speech.”

He knew I called him friend but the fact he found out the two of them also called him friend surprised him. Platinum eyes glanced at me, wide and innocent. I smile at him in reassurance.

“Is-is it alright? To call you three friends?” Braums asked, more to himself than to us. He tacks the last sentence on. “i-I know I’m your employer but…”

He is a prince after all. To be separated from the common class is completely normal, I’m a special case, but for him who grew up noble… It must be a new experience all together. No doubt he’s been told that he mustn’t interact with us common folk.

Paris leans on his chair, an easy going smile on his face. “Well of course we’re friends. Once you get naked with someone, that’s sort of a requirement.”

“I see,” Rafael nods his head sagely. “So that’s how it works.”

Ah, right… Leaning my head on my hand, I said, “Fai, don’t listen to him.”

The shopkeeper came back to us, “Can I get you all something?”

“Three of your current special and one plate of roasted vegetables, please.” Braums ordered, giving Paris a sly smile.

Paris’ one eye widened at this. It pleases me to know they’ve made up, even if I already knew that would happen.

“Coming right up!”

_Ramen…_ I wiped my mouth to make sure I wasn’t drooling. It’s been so long since I had ramen. The last time would be around five years ago, I think. The ramen owner of Beldale left. He must have known that it would be folly to stay in Beldale once the taxes grew heavier.

“That reminds me…” I hummed, time to tell a bit of my oh-so-tragic back story. “When I moved to Beldale, there would be children at the windows in order to watch me eat.”

“Oh my…” Braums’ eyes widened. “Why would they do such a thing?”

“They were terrified of me. None of them have ever seen a Shika before.” _Especially one as regal as me,_ or maybe that one was my ego talking. “I overheard one of them thinking I was going to cast a spell or something…”

Rafael raised an eyebrow. “Really? What an odd fear.”

“It was.”

Paris chuckled at the memory. “Oh boy, did we have fun with that.”

“We told them I would curse them if they didn’t bring an offering of one seraph every day.” I snickered. The money went to buying clothing. It helped some. “Though we had to stop when one of their parents found out and chewed us out for it. I managed to shift most of the blame on Paris.”

“Yeah, I can still feel the bite marks from that one.” Paris snickered.

Rafael frowned. “Their parents bit you as a form of discipline?”

“It’s a figure of speech…” I snorted.

“Ah, I see.”

Braums smiled at the story. “You two sound like menaces.”

“Oh we were the worst. But most of it was Paris.” At this, he glared at me.

He must have been offended at the blame shift again, I grinned at him.

“Not true! You punched me in the guts when we first met and then proceeded to beat up whichever kid tried to bully me or _you_.” He stuck his tongue out.

Laughter erupted from Braums’ lips. “I suppose not much has changed.”

“Ouch, Braums! Arrows fired.” I snickered.

Our laughter died as Braums turned his questions to Rafael. “How about you, Rafael? What was it like growing up?’

I stopped, my smiling falling. I already knew he didn’t have much of a childhood. I’d rather not remind him of any unpleasant memories. I might as well cover for him then.

“Ooh, willing to break the suspense, huh?” I nudged Rafael.

He sent me a confused look. I winked at him, covering my face I brushed my bangs a bit to show off the mark and then gestured to my eyes. After that, I made a shushing motion. Instantly, he understood what I was doing and gave me a grateful, or what I hope was a grateful look.

“What suspense?” Braums tilted his head.

“Oh you know! Look at him, he has the vibes of a ‘mysterious stranger’ don’t you think?” I moved my hand, gesturing at, well, him.

Braums hummed in agreement. “I suppose he does have an aloof air to him.”

“Hmm.” Is all Rafael said, I’ll talk to him later about this. Clarify his questions if he has any, it wouldn’t do to make him think I know something he doesn’t.

“Oh don’t tell me you’re surprised by this,” I giggled.

Paris nodded, giving him a searching look. “Surefire way to catch company for an evening.”

The face Rafael made at that is priceless. “I do not want to catch anyone.”

The glare Braums fixed Paris, was enough to wilt roses. “And I don’t want _you_ ‘catching’ anyone either! We don’t have time for that nonsense.”

_Oh don’t worry Braums, the only one he’s catching is you if I have any say on that._ Luckily, the two of them should already be having… something. By the time we reach Riddel, the two would be sucking each other’s faces. Meanwhile, Rafael and I will have a smooth and strong _alliance_.

“There’s no need to be jealous Braums, I’m all yours.” Paris purred at him.

Look like those two _are_ having something. Wonderful, all according to plan. At least I don’t have to meddle much with those two.

“Wh-I- Ugh, the nerve!” Braums turned his nose at Paris.

I snickered. “And this is why I’m your only friend, Pear.”

“Braums said we’re already friends, no take backs!” He shot a winning smile at the prince.

Said prince blinked. “I-”

“I said, no take backs!” Paris interrupted.

I snickered. Now that the topic had changed, I nudged Rafael. _“You’re welcome.”_

_“…Thank you, Suzaku-sama. I appreciate you keeping my cover. I do not lie well.”_ He picked up his drink.

Picking up mine, I shrugged at him. _“I know that Rai takes those with nothing to lose. Most likely, he took in children, especially with how well trained you are.”_

_“…He did. I was young when Rai took me, a mere child.”_

That confirmed my suspicions at least. I had a few theories on how old he was when he was taken but I had no doubt we was young. It saddens me that his upbringing was less than ideal but it’s what he was given and what I needed in order to deal with Rai. My only hope is that he and Lorelai will have a better life after I take back the throne.

“Hey, what are you two whispering about, huh?” Paris grouched. “Ugh, Shika, I hate it when you switch languages.”

I snickered at him. “Sorry, Pear, I was just telling him about the ramen back in Beldale.”

“ _Yeah_ , I’m suuuure you were.” Paris replied, unconvinced.

Another round of laughter rang through the table. Our food came in, hot and steaming. Turning to the shop keeper, I thanked her with a smile. That’s when I saw it.

Another customer, a Shika, with pale eyes and pink hair. We made eye contact and for a moment, my vision blurred.

* * *

_“Suzaku!”_

_My chest hurts. A flash of metal and it’s pulled out. Warm blood quickly pooled on my chest, staining my clothes the same red I love. My vision blurs as gloved hands move to hold me, pressing against my wound._

_“Suzaku.” His voice is shaking. I’ve never heard it so terrified as it has become now. “Don’t close your eyes.”_

_I can hear another voice, loud and clear. It’s Braums, hise voice hysterical like when the pirates boarded our ship. “We need a healer! Where is the nearest healer?”_

_“Come on, this is **Riddel** for fuck’s sake, how hard is it to get a healer? A-Ash could be dead if we wait too long.” How funny, Paris has never had a voice crack as an adult. _

_“Someone go after that Shika!”_

* * *

“-Sh! Ash!” A hand waved in front of my face. Blinking, I realized I was on the floor, curled up beside my chair.

The owner of the hand happened to be Paris as he looked at me in concern. Rafael was holding me, his own concern reflecting in those platinum eyes. Hovering like a worried fly over us is Braums, with those wide blue eyes of his.

“Ash? Are you alright?” The prince asked.

Blinking my eyes, I took a shuddering breath. “I-I’m alright.”

“You sure don’t look alright to me.” Paris frowned.

I shook my head, standing up to the table shakily. That was…weird. What _was_ that? It can’t actually be a-a _real_ vision was it? I turned my eyes to where the Shika was but I found that they had long since disappeared.

Shaking off their concerns, I smiled and gestured to the food. When asked what happened, I laughed it off saying that the forest must have gotten to me. But it’s Rafael who gazed at me with eyes of understanding.

Try as I might, there’s no way that _couldn’t_ be a vision. Now the only thing is, should I trust it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I watched the Godfather I and II today which is cool. I also played 'Autumn's Journey' by Apple Cider! It's so cute and fun, it kinda reminds me of the Pretenders Guild with the focus of friendship and stuff. Maybe I should write a crossover soon? Hmm... Anyway! Here's chapter 14, we're finally in Ellaria and Suzaku here gets a weird dream thing. Hehehe, I won't say anymore than that. We're finally touching upon my changes to canon that will definitely come in soon hehehe I'm excited! The story is crawling closer and closer to Oppehn, I'm getting kinda nervous since I haven't thought farther ahead than Oppehn lol but I'll figure it out, I swear!
> 
> So what's your verdict? Should Suzaku trust it? Also, who is that Shika stranger anyway, just an unfortunate passerby or are they something more? I know the answers cause I'm writing it ehehe


	15. Ombros

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suzaku, Rain, and Rafael, what a lovely bonding experience! 
> 
> ...Not.

As expected, the rain began pouring in. The soft grumble of thunder in the distance breaks me from my thoughts. I can’t seem to shake myself off of that… vision. I’m not even sure if it _is_ a vision or some side effect of the forest’s heat. I closed my eyes, knowing that Braums would be with Paris right now and that Rafael is out in the main hall for training.

Loneliness crawled its way to me.

I’m here in the dark, alone with nothing but my thoughts and the clawing guilt of what I’ll be doing.

_Great._

No doubt after I’m done with this, Braums and Paris will still like me but only because of my deception. If I was _almost_ assassinated in the kingdom then they’d understand. That’s what makes it so horrible. They’d be all nice and caring, when I’m going to be responsible for the death of Braums’ dad since I’m the one urging Rafael to kill the king.

I groaned.

Looks like I’m seeking out Rafael tonight. After all, I’d rather be fighting off this anxiety than wallowing in misery. It’s not like I’ll be able to get some sleep too, what with the vision lingering at the edges of my thoughts.

The whole ‘vision’ thing was a lie I baked up for this. Oh Talia, is this payback for deceit? Sitting up, I got dressed and made sure my weapons are on me. Grabbing the umbrella, I left to find the city hall.

* * *

Rain represents the past. It hides Talia’s light, and reminds us of why we worship the Gods. It also represents chaos, where the thunder and the lightning are the Gods arguing against one another. But the main thing is, rain symbolizes deceit, as it hides us from the light of Talia, and it blinds us with the droplets of rain, it confuses the senses with lightning and thunder.

 _My public name should have been ‘Rain’ instead,_ I scoffed. It took me a while but after clomping through mud, struggling to see through the rain and generally being cold, wet, and miserable, I found the main hall. Walking up to it, I set down the umbrella and sat down on the stairs.

I’m not sure I want to train with Rafael now.

Not when…

_~~“Suzaku!”~~ _

The only one who could have shouted that was Rafael. I’ve never heard him so… emotional. Normally, he sounds like water, smooth, soft, gentle, _calm_ water. But that? His voice held an urgency. As if the world was ending because I’ve got a stab wound in my chest.

It scares me.

If it _is_ right, I’d be dead before we even reach Oppehn. I don’t know what Rafael would do but…

_~~“Don’t close your eyes.”~~ _

It wouldn’t be pretty.

“Ugh!” I buried my head in my hands. I came here to train with Rafael! What am I doing out here _thinking_ when Rafael is _right_ there and I could train with him?

The doo slid open.

“Suzaku-sama?” Rafael’s voice calms me.

I can’t help it. He could be talking about dust for all I care and I’d still be calm. There’s something about it that makes me lose any stess I’ve grown from thinking.

Leaning back, I grinned at him. “Hello, Fai. I figured you’d be here.”

He looks out at the cold rain and then down at me. I must have looked like a mess because he’s moving aside and gesturing me to come in. Entering it, I hear the door click shut. At least with Rafael here, I can distract myself from whatever thoughts are plaguing me.

The room is silent as he went through katas and I began warming up. The silence held a weight to it. I opened my mouth but he beat me to it.

“Your latest vision has you disturbed, Suzaku-sama.” He said, looking at me as he changed his stance.

“You got it in one, Fai. I won’t tell you what it was that got me so… stressed but it is disturbing to say the least.” Thinking back on it, I was away from Rafael in the vision, so maybe if I had him closer…. “Fai, are you up for a spar?”

“I am.”

A smile wormed its way to my face. Handing him the ninjato, I set up the rules of the spar.

“No killing moves, winner is decided if one of us won’t get up after 10 seconds or if one of us drew first blood. No crippling moves either, we are still on a mission after all and we’re close to Oppehn. That sound good to you?”

He nodded, taking the sword and unsheathing it. The sword came out and he peered inside the sheath to find it empty. He knew as well as I that the scabbard is longer than the blade for hiding things but I’m not hiding anything in it. Or well, not yet.

I brought out my tonfas and after that, things were a blur.

All I had is the pumping blood in my ears, echoing like a heartbeat. My eyes darting around for the flash of steel. There’s none of the reverence he usually says my name with. It’s as simple as clear cut business. Raising my tonfas, I tapped his shoulder and moved to an uppercut. He moved out of the way.

It was like this, whenever we made contact, it would be a light tap. Rafael would tilted the blade so it would hit me with the flat instead of the edge. But still, the danger was there. The blade whistled by me and moved my tonfas in kind.

The battle took me out of my head.

By the time we were finished, our weapons had been set aside and we were fighting each other hand to hand. My fatigue slowed me down and compared to Rafael, I had no one to keep up against back then. I punched, and his hand grabbed my arm. I grabbed his wrist when I realized what he was doing.

“Ah!” The wind in my breath got knocked out as my back his the wooden floor.

Rafael straddled me. His legs on either side of my waist. My arm is up above my head. My other am is holding his wrist from where it sat on my chest, still balled up from his grapple. The only sound I can hear is our heavy breathing and the way my heat is racing.

Racing from what exactly, I don’t know.

His face is so close. I can see the shine of platinum in those black eyes. Normally, I’d be unnerved by it. By the way it seems to see through me. But instead, I feel… Grateful. Grateful to have someone who _does_ understand me, who doesn’t even judge me for the decisions, I’ve already made and for all that I’ve revealed, he’s not once told me off for deciding people’s lives like a chessboard.

None of us said a word.

I don’t know how long it was before Rafael releases me. But by then, my mind had caught up to the situation and all my worries begin to stack on.

“I’m tired, so I’ll be heading back. Thank you for indulging me, Rafael.” I bow a bit at him and _flee._

* * *

Running away from my problems is all I seem to do. As I entered the room, all I can do is groan. I’m fucked. I’m so fucked. I shouldn’t have gone to Rafael in the first place. Damn it, there’s no denying that whatever is between us is going to happen one way or another.

I flop my head on the pillow. I’ve been seeking him out. Unconsciously or not, I’ve constantly been going after him. On the boat was fine. Then it was the shrines, then the the camp, and oh Talia, I don’t want him to get hurt.

Both of Rafael’s endings ended with the king being _alive_ and him dodging Rai.

Not killing the king for secret royalty in a bid to get the throne back.

“Talia, shine your light and make it so my heart sees reason.” Is it me or did the rain clear up a bit?

Knowing that my mind was _not_ even remotely clear, I simply played my flute to play Tankoli until I fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The word 'Ombros' means shower of rain in Greek which is pretty cool! Also, I'm working on chapter 16 but requirements are due in like three days and my university really isn't ending online classes and sadly, I'll have to take online exams too. So I expect to be busy stressing over the work I have to pass because some of the teachers aren't adhering to the 2 written work rule that was supposed to be implemented *cusses them out* Ugh. Anyway, it was surprisingly easy to write this and hopefully the sparring scene will be good since I didn't have any basis for it at all this time. Suzaku being pinned down was definitely something I had looked forward to writing so that might explain why it went by so quickly. Another thing is, I added more Shika lore yay! hahaha in this case, it's rain symbolism lol, I was thinking of making another God for rain but decided not to since I wanted it to be a neutral ground, so the Gods fighting it is! 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading this chapter! I hope you have a pleasant day!


	16. Riddel Me This

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suzaku and Rafael go shopping while Braums and Paris watch a play.

The next day was slightly better though it did nothing to ease my nerves.

“The inside of my pants are still wet, and it is very uncomfortable.” Rafael stated as flat as the grasslands.

“I see you’ve taken the complaining to heart, huh?” I snickered.

He looked at me. “I was attempting to bond by complaining. Is it working?”

Paris sighed in response, looking at the mud gloomily. “Yeah, it’s working. You should have taken your under layers to dry like I did.”

“Shika do not wear under layers.” Rafael said.

Shocked by this, Braums and Paris fixed me with a look. I scowled at them and walked ahead. I am _not_ in the mood to talk about what I wear and _don’t_ wear. Fixing them with a glare, I turned my thoughts to Riddel.

We’re close now. It’s making me nervous. Once we reach Riddel, Braums’ secret will come out and guilt will be eating me up more so when we head to Oppehn. The ambush can hopefully be abated and Rafael doesn’t have to reveal his assassin status to Paris.

I’ll have to tell him about the lie he’s going to feed Paris in case he does findout. It’ll be the ‘I’m retired’ excuse but it’ll work. Then when the king is dead, and me ‘almost’ assassinated, I’d tell them about Rai and Rafael having protected me from the almost assassin. After that, I’ll be working on getting the Phoenix throne and we’ll have a happy ending.

My heart clenched.

I know that a romance between me and Rafael can work. But I don’t want to paint an even larger target on his back. Despite whatever optimism dives me, I’m not optimistic to be in a relationship with someone still under Rai’s leash, no matter how weak it may be. Between me and Lorelai, I don’t know.

We reached Riddel at noon, the large city taking after its name with a large theatre and a poster there. It lives up to its name and reputation for showy plays and operas that held thrilling sopranos and divas with pearls strung everywhere.

This is it.

“Please tell me we’re stopping here. I need to get out of these clothes.” Paris sighed.

Braums scoffed. “We already wasted too much time in Ellaria, we-”

Ah, his eyes had found the poster of the play. With a gasp, he freezes in his steps.

“Braums?” I asked, getting his attention.

“…Hmm?” He replies, “Oh, uh, yes… Excellent idea Paris, we should definitely stay here for the night.”

I smiled. Perfect, the two of them will get together by the time the theatre has ended. The only thing to worry about is the vision I had. It was explicitly in Riddel. Hopefully it doesn’t interfere with the reveal of Braums’ identity.

“Uh, okay.” Paris gave him a dumfounded look. It’s rare that they agree on something after all.

“Yes! Let’s set about finding a place to stay, and we can all go about our business today.” He nodded to himself surely.

It doesn’t take long to find an inn. With how popular Riddel is, I would be shocked if we had a harder time looking for one. Braums is flying off without so much of an ado. I decided to urge him to go after Braums.

“Hmm, I wonder where Braums is headed.” I made a show of turning to Paris, “Well, go after him, Pear. Don’t want to lose our employer to an accident.”

He nods at this, “Got it, Ash. Heh, you make a good wingman or er, person.”

Paris follows after, leaving me with…

“I see what you did there, Suzaku-sama.” Rafael takes his place beside me. “Is this part of your plan?”

I rub my head bashfully. The way he says it makes it sound like I’m a master manipulator or those glasses pushing anime villains. “Yeah, they’d be good for each other. Paris can keep an eye out for Braums as consort _and_ he can charm the Revarian Court. Braums will be king and part of that duty is to be fair and benevolent. He can’t be seen scheming and plotting. Paris will be the one who is friendly, the smile that hides the knife.”

And as always, Rafael did not speak of judgements or look at me with persecuting eyes. Instead, he simply accepted it. Looking at him, I can’t help but recall the words of a poem, ‘Smoke over the water and the moon over the sand’. His face was like that, gentle and calming without a touch of judgement.

“You think highly of them.” He noted, “You’ve thought hard about keeping Revaria from being worse than it is after the death of the king. It is kind of you.”

“I am not kind. I am a selfish person, thinking not of how they would feel of the manipulation but instead of what will suit me best. The king must die or else relations between Shikan and Revaria will never be reached. I will need the back up from Revaria until I can gain territory from Rai.” I’m not as nice as Rafael claims me to be. If I was I would have tried to find a way that didn’t involve the king’s death or my fake assassination. But well, I suppose I’ve made my peace, after all I will be forced to do so much more once I take the throne.

“You care about your people despite never being on Shikan. You care about the state of Revaria despite the people’s discrimination against you.” Rafael continued, “Suzaku-sama, you may believe yourself to be less, but…”

He paused, his face twisting with frustration. Switching to Laiti, he continued onward, _“The moon pales compared to you in the night. You are touched by Talia, blessed by her light. Suzaku, meli ko sianku.”_

I flushed at his praise. The last one especially, had me wanting to bury my face in a pillow. _‘Suzaku, your heart is my sunlight’._ Just the thought alone was high flattering, even more so in the context of Laiti. Calling my heart his sunlight was equivalent to saying that he views me highly and will listen and accept everything I say, from judgement to praise. Most forms of literature used the phrase in romantic contexts.

“Ahaha, Fai, you’re such a tease. Are you flirting?” I giggled, swatting his shoulder.

He raised an eyebrow. “I am. Is it working?”

“A-ah…” I struggled to find a way to reply to that. “Fai, let’s go out to the market, I want to see what Riddel has to offer.”

Laughing nervously, I turned to my bag and grabbed my seraphs. I ignored any thought of Rafael being romantic enough to _actually_ speak in a form of Laiti poetry and left it at that. It can’t be more than him being brutally and innocently honest _Rafael._ Turning to him, I tugged on his sleeves.

“Let’s go!” I gave him my brightest smile, hoping to distract myself from what happened a few moments ago.

* * *

Going through the market made me feel excited. This is the first time being in a remotely crowded market in an almost fantasy setting! I gawked at seeing clothing for sale in bright colors that might have belonged in a cosplay store. Another stall sold frozen teats and another sold tanghulu.

My sweet tooth coupled with amazement at seeing a traditional Shika treat had me drifting to the tanghulu stall. Inside is a young Shika woman, with a small team of other Shika working on tanghulu. Excitement bubbled in me as I turned to Rafael.

“ _Fai, you want tanghulu?”_

_“… I do not mind if you want it, Suzaku-sama.”_ He brought out his pouch.

I waved my hand in front of him, dismissing his pouch. “I’ll pay for this one. It’s my idea to go out anyway. What fruit do you want? I’ll pick it out for you.”

“Apples.”

Turning to the Shika manning the stall, I beamed. “Two sticks of tanghulu please, one strawberry and one apple.”

The Shika nodded. “That would be 20 seraphs for you and your partner.”

Handing him the money, I took the sticks and handed Rafael the apple tanghulu. “Thank you so much.”

Eating tanghulu was a dream. It’s been so long since I ate it especially since sugar became too expensive back on Beldale. A giggle passed my lips as I practically skipped through the shops with Rafael. That’s when something caught my eye.

Pausing, I stared at it. It’s a gorgeous. A necklace that held a red sakura flower, it looked as if it was trapped in glass despite it being intricate glasswork. It’s held on a chain of silver, a platinum shine like Rafael’s eyes.

“Do you like that, Suzaku-sama?” Rafael asked behind me.

I placed the tanghulu in my mouth, nodding almost shyly at him. “It’s a beautiful piece of jewelry.”

“And very fitting too,” Rafael replied, handing the money for the necklace.

The owner of the shop gave a merry laugh. His hands blotted by burns from glass. He’s a Cubi with calloused hands as he nodded his head at Rafael.

“Thank you for the compliment. That piece took me a long while but it seems no one wanted to buy it since it was too expensive.” He sighs. “The chain is platinum and the red was from a Shika selling it, it’s a brilliant dye too, vermillion.”

“It’s very well done, sir.” I nodded, as he packed the necklace.

Looking around the stall I found an arm circlet. It held the design of an arrow, with a green stone inlaid on the arrowhead. The arrow itself is burnished iron so it doesn’t have a shine what would give away Rafael’s position should he wear it. Taking it, I went to the man.

“I’d like to buy this please. How much?”

Rafael moved to pay it but I shook my head. “Fai, you paid for the necklace, so I’ll pay for this!”

He backed down, “If you wish it, Suzaku-sama.”

“Good.” Turning to the owner who handed the bagged necklace to Rafael, I waited for an answer.

“The armlet is 500 silver seraphs. But since you and your partner already bought a necklace, how about I lower it, 250 silver seraphs, does that sound good to you?” He smiled at me and I nodded, taking out the necessary seraphs.

He bags the armlet, talking about it with care. “The stone is malachite, it is said that it helps give clear thinking. They call it the stone of transformation since it helps you though challenges, which is why I used an arrow for it. The iron is burnished to balance out the dark green of the malachite.”

“Wow!” I blink, “It fits you better than I expected, Fai!”

“Ah, here you go, the armlet for the nice young couple.” He grinned. “Have a good day.”

* * *

We walked around the market, holding the bags of the jewelry and eating our tanghulu. My mind strayed back to the vision…

_~~“Someone go after that Shika!”~~ _

I frowned against the last piece of candied strawberry. As much as I would like to avoid it, now that my mind is clearer, I knew I had to tell Rafael. If I didn’t then nothing would change. At least, if someone else other than me knows then we have a higher chance to finding the culprit.

Speaking of the culprit, I never saw it clearly, after all, it was mainly voices I heard. But what triggered the vision was… A Shika with pale eyes and pink hair, there’s no way I would forget _that_.

“Fai? Keep an eye out for a Shika with pale eyes and pink hair. Don’t let them get close.” I ordered, pulling him back to the inn.

Rafael gives me a searching look. “…Understood, Suzaku-sama.”

“Thank you.”

I finish up my snack and throw away the stick. From the looks of things, the theatre must still be in session. I looked down at the paper bag, I realized I had yet to give it to him.

Rafael must have noticed he has yet to give me the necklace, since he spoke up about it once the tense atmosphere left as soon as it came.

“Suzaku-sama,” he pulled out the necklace, “For you.”

_Honestly, he can be quiet the romantic._ I smiled at this. “Is it alright if you put it on for me?”

“I don’t mind.” He replied, unclasping the necklace and going behind me to put it on.

_His hands…_ I flushed. _They’re so close!_

I trembled when his hands brushed against the nape of my neck. I can feel his breath against my horn as he placed it on. His fingers, no doubt dexterously clasping the two ends of platinum coated metal together. The air gained something heavy to it. An implication I so desperately want to avoid.

“It is done.” Rafael said and I released a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

Taking out the armlet, I turned around. “Give me one of your arms, I’ll put it on for you.”

He handed me his right arm and I took out the armlet to slide it. My hands held the metal as I moved to hold his wrist. Carefully, I slid it up, making sure my fingers didn’t touch his hand. It nestles itself in his bicep, the malachite catching the eyes of all. It matches his outfit well, and brings out the greens of it.

“There, all done!” I beam at him. “Let go inside and wait for Braums and Paris to come back. I can’t wait to flash our new duds at them.”

And Rafael, for the first time since ever, smiles back at me.

He. Smiles. Back.

It’s small and almost shy. Like the twinkle of a star that could be hidden as easily as it could shine. It’s beautiful and sweet _and it makes me so damn weak._ Honestly, he should just smile at our assailants, they’ll be on the ground as puddle of goo from how cute it is. The only way to describe it is like chocolate.

You love it and you can’t help but treasure it no matter how fleeting it may be.

“Suzaku-sama?” His smooth voice cuts through my thoughts like water flowing into a steam.

“ _Your smile is beautiful, Rafael._ ” It slips out of my mouth before I can even register it.

His jade white cheeks flush red at the compliment. Turning to look away from me he murmurs, _“Thank you, Suzaku-sama. Your own smile is as beautiful as a sunstream.”_

It’s my turn to flush. Damn it Rafael! A simple thank you would have been enough instead of making me flustered. Looking for something to do, I sat on our bed and picked up my flute.

“Can you sing?” I asked him.

He settles down beside me. “I am not good at singing.”

“Then I’ll teach you!”

Music is a good way to calm down and it’s a nice, nonromantic activity that can be shared between _friends._ At least, that’s what I tell myself anyway and if the songs we did were all love songs then that’s my business.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rafael is a total player in this one! Wow! He's here spitting out poetry and flirting (in his own way) with Suzaku. What a legend. Man, Suzaku is full of self denial but I'm sue we can do something about that lol Oh and when I type in 'sunsteam' I figured it would be nice to use instead of 'sunbeam', since sunbeam would be more Varin instead of Laiti and it gives it that linguisitical flavor of difference ahah. On the note of tanghulu, it's a Chinese sweet treat that's traditionally candied hawthorn on a bamboo skewer but has since because 'Anything you can skewer is glazed' kind of thing with various fruits and nuts being used in tanghulu. I haven't tried it yet but it looks really yummy! I'm also pretty frustrated since my usb has basically been ruined and the only file I have is the Liar, Liar file which means I can't access my other fanfictions and original works *cusses and cries* I swear I didn't insult you, Talia! 
> 
> Besides that though, I hope you enjoyed the Rafael/Suzaku moment while Braris are out there sucking each other's faces in a theatre. *Sighs* Oh to be someone being flirted on in a market or sneakily kissing your lover in a theatre. Or well, Oh to be able to go out at all! 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading and I hope you have a nice day!


	17. A Theatrical Farce

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suzaku, Paris and Rafael perform a play and Braums' identity is revealed.

I woke up the next day with dread pooling in my stomach. Today’s the day where Braums will be revealed. The vision had yet to be true, which makes me both worried and relieved. I don’t want it to be real. If it was all something made up, I can rest easy. But…

If it is true then by Talia, I will simply have to live with that.

“Good morning, Ash.” Paris gave me a grin. “Thanks for yesterday.”

“Yesterday?” I snorted, shaking off the anxiety. It’ll be fine. I’ll be alright. “I’m guessing the date went well?”

A pink eye formed a pleased crescent shape, like a cat that got the canary. “ _Very_ well. I still can’t believe it. Me, a Cubi chef with nothing to his name, and I managed to find love with a noble.”

“That’s good to hear. I’m glad you’re happy. You aren’t playing with his heart, are you?” I may know that they love each other but I still needed to make sure Paris wasn’t thinking of Braums as a summer fling.

He stood up, angry at the accusation. His eye glaring at me with his rabbit ears stood tall. Marching over to me he scowls. I sometimes forget how intimidating he can be and that fear must have shown in my eyes. The next moment, he’s sitting beside me, and sighing in defeat.

“I…I love him, Ash. I can’t believe it sometimes. It’s like a dream.” I can hear the wistfulness in his voice, that smooth milky tone sounding dream like even. “Then I remember that we’re basically lying to him about who we are and I feel so _damn_ guilty, Ash.”

“Don’t worry, Paris. He’ll understand. After all, he doesn’t seem like the type to fall in love so easily. Actually, it seems he’s never fallen in love before.” I hummed, thinking of their ending together. _Beauty and the Brute…_ “Seems to me he follows his heart and sticks with it, don’t you notice the lack of servants and bodyguards? He’s a noble man, they typically have those. Most likely whatever family he’s from doesn’t approve or doesn’t appreciate his dallying with the commoners.”

Paris bumps shoulders with me. “Hmm, you’re right. I never actually thought about it much.”

“Aren’t I _always_ right, Pear?” I snickered, bumping him back. “Anyway, don’t let go of what you have, you never know when it’ll disappear.”

“Ugh don’t say that, Ash! You’ll jinx it.” He crossed his arms and huffed.

Rolling my eyes, I swatted his shoulder. “Yeah, yeah, you big baby.”

Standing up, I stretched myself. Talking with Paris managed to ease my nerves a bit, but Paris always has that calming effect from his easy-going nature. It’s just the way he is and it explains why so many people flock to him like birds.

The door opens and reveals Rafael, empty handed.

“ _Welcome home, Fai!”_ I greeted with a smile.

_“I’m home.”_ Rafael nodded at me, any sign of yesterday’s sweet smile.

The image comes back almost immediately and I can’t help the flush crawling up my face. I examined him, eying his sleeves to see if he has anything inside. The arrow armlet catches my eye and warmth curls in my stomach, pleased at this. Seeing him use it soothes me more than I expected.

“How was your shopping trip, Rafael?” Paris asked him, standing up from the bed too.

“It was pleasant. I saw many things there.” Came Rafael’s reply.

Paris’ eye lit up like a bouquet of pink moss phlox. “Did you get anything for us?”

“I did not buy anything.” Rafael eplied in confusion. “I said I saw many things, I never said I bought them.”

I snickered, my hand moving to touch the necklace. “Did you have fun at least?”

“It was enjoyable, yes.” He replied.

That’s when Braums came marching in. “I’ve decided!”

“Uh, decided what exactly?” Paris asked him, giving his now boyfriend a confused glance.

Undeterred, Baums nodded surely to himself. “As my employees, you are hired to look after my physical safety and also my mental health. As such, I’ve decided that you will perform a play for me.”

“A play?” Paris raised an eyebrow. “Why do you want a play?”

“Because after seeing the play yesterday, I’ve decided I wanted more of that, excitement and thrill, adventure and romance!” He grinned smugly, his hands pointing at us dramatically.

The local rabbit gave him one of his smirks. “Then why not go see another one?”

“I’ve checked, the theatres aren’t showing anything today and since this is our last day here, I wanted to maximize it as best as I can.” His voice held a surety to it but beneath, I knew he was simply afraid to reveal his identity so soon to his new friends.

“Alright, Rafael and I can be star crossed lovers!” I winked at him.

Rafael’s petty face twisted into one of confusion and uncertainty. “I do not know how to act.”

“It’ll be fine! I can teach you, anyway you and I both know the story.” I waved off his concerns. It would be better if I didn’t ty to make the same story as Ash did since I have no idea what the plot is other than the funny and outlandish names. Seriously, _Pyonpyon_? The canon Ash must have laughed their ass off with that name.

“My, you’re certainly ready for this.” Braums gave me an amused look.

Oh, I should shoo him out. Tutting him, I began bringing him out the door. “The audience doesn’t sit in the rehearsals, Braumsy.”

“Huh?” Braums blinked, confused and compliant as he followed my manhandling. It touches me that he trusts me enough to let me do this but then again, this is the sheltered prince of Revaria.

“You heard me, your Baumsness!” I bought him out the door but paused, right, I should set up his reveal. It would make it easier on everyone. “Oh and by the way, do you have something round, like a pendulum?”

“I have a round purse?” He suggested, his eyes flashing bright with excitement at the coming play.

I nodded my head, “Go and get that then.”

This is it, the next phase of ousting Rai and getting the Phoenix throne is happening. Even with that knowledge, I thought dryly to myself, _the only thing happening is that I’m going to reveal one of us is secret royalty and hopefully not get stabbed._

* * *

With Braums nestled on one of the beds, and the fake curtains set up, I had changed my clothing to be more like that of an emperor. My hair isn’t up in a ponytail but instead the typical Shika noble of the half up-half down style, a crown on my head. The clothing is black and red, one of my showier pieces for when I had to play something special for events in Paris’ restaurant. The red patterning of a sun on my shoulders and split in half right down the sleeves made it pleasing to the eye.

Rafael was wearing his own clothing since we decided to twist the story up a bit.

“Welcome,” Paris greeted, “To a play brought to you by the Pretenders Guild. Let’s us all give a hand for the presentation, ‘The Tragedy of Xuanzhan Palace'.”

Braums clapped his hands and the scene changed to have me sitting on a chair, regal as ever.

Rafael walks in, playing the part of the general who had returned from the war front with military merits and a new title to his name.

“This general greets the Emperor!” Rafael prostrated himself, kowtowing three times.

I nod my head at him. “General Genji, I see you have come back from the front with plenty of military merit. As a reward, I shall give you the title of nobility, _Wang_. Do not make me regret this.”

“This general entitled Wang shall not let, his majesty, the Emperor down.” Rafael replied with such conviction, as if he was the one speaking instead of Genji. “This subordinate only wishes to play chess with his majesty, in order to keep this one’s mind sharp.”

Laughing, I gave him a smug look. “Let us see who between us will keep the other sharp, General. Very well, I shall grant your request. Go and rest, I’m sure you are tired from the long trek to the capital.”

“The emperor is truly kind.” He replied from his place on the floor.

* * *

“Ahaha, it seems I’ve bested you once more, General.” I smiled at the triumph, the clacking of the pieces seem to echo. “However, your potential intrigues me. Perhaps we should make this a regular occurence.”

“If that is his majesty’s wish, then this subordinate will happily oblige. This one asks his majesty for pointers.” Rafael bowed once more.

“Enough of that, let’s play another round.”

Rafael arranged the board. “As you wish, your majesty.”

* * *

“Every day I grow fonder and fonder of you, General.” I sighed over the chess board. “My only wish is that I had met you sooner.”

“This one can only say that he’s been working hard to meet you once again.” A chess piece tacked itself to the board.

“…Again? What do you speak of, General?” I raised an eyebrow, moving my own piece.

Rafael laughs, and takes the king. “It’s been a while, Ruru.”

I gasp at the nickname. “No, it can’t be- Hikaru?!”

Standing up, he gives me a bow and a smile. “I’m sorry for keeping it a secret for so long, Emperor Akimaru.”

I stand up, my hands on his arms, “Don’t bow to me! You have no idea how long I’ve been looking for you, Hikaru.”

“I couldn’t face you, not when… Not when we’ve been separated through my cowardice.” He stands up straight and I throw my arms around him.

“Don’t say such things! You were my best friend, the shadow to my light. How could I dare to think lowly of you when you sacrificed yourself to protect me?” I cup his face, my eyes wide with emotion, “Hikaru… I-”

A loud bang interrupts me and right on cue, Paris rushes in, kidnapping me.

“Ruru!”

* * *

“Wait. You’re the Cubi kitchen hand, Fraelan!”

“I make no comment, your majesty. Now focus your eyes on this.” Paris stand before me swinging the pendulum. “Youuuuu arrreeee getttiiiiing veeeeeerry sleeeeepyyyy.”

I closed my eyes and slumped on the chair I was ‘tied’ in.

* * *

“I’ll let the Emperor go, but in exchange for you.” Paris scoffed at him.

I shake my head vehemently. “Hikaru, don’t do it!”

“For you, I will do anything.” Rafael kneels down, bowing to me for what could be one last time. “I’m sorry, for my past mistakes have caused you harm. It was my fault that you were kidnapped, for I had killed the family of your kidnapper.”

“Shut up! Don’t blame yourself, Hikaru.” I sobbed, “You did what you had to in this foolish war that my father had waged.”

He smiles at me as Paris releases my bonds. I run to him and he catches me in his arms. Then he pushes me aside as Paris moved to stab us with a fake sword. The sword goes through his elbow. Making it look as if he’d been stabbed.

Shocked and on the ground, I could only cry out, “Hikaru!”

“I’m sorry, your majesty, but Hikaru stands no more. I have completed my revenge and accept the punishment of the emperor.” Paris takes out his sword, stepping back as I crawl up to cradle Paris in my arms.

“Oh Hikaru, if only you had returned to me sooner. If only we had met sooner. You were the dark to my light and the wind beneath my flight. And now the light overwhelms and my flight has been stayed.” I pet his hair.

Paris looks away. “Your majesty, your Hikaru is no more. He has joined Talia’s light, where she should be.”

“You scoundrel! Where should he be if not right here by my side?” Taking a deep breath, I cried out. "I, Emperor Akimaru, sentence you to a death of a thousand cuts!"

Pause for effect and…

“The End!” I held the wrist of Paris, bowing to our single audience who clapped furiously. “Uh, Rafael, you can get up now.”

Opening his eyes, he stood up and I took his wrist as well, bowing again to Braums. Letting go of their wrists, I grinned.

“That was great!” Braums exclaimed, wiping away his teas. “I cried.”

Paris laughed. “I saw, it was hilarious.”

“So what’s the verdict, Oh Lord Braumsy?” I snickered.

Braums hummed, “You were brilliant but… Paris, I thought you could have been a little more charming.”

“Oh? Aren’t I already _charming_?” He asked, siding up to Braums and bringing an arm around his shoulder.

Braums snorted. “Get your hands off me or I’ll throw my pepper eye dust at you.”

“Will you now?” Paris asked him.

With a gesture, from Braums, I took out his round purse. My heart beating as I smiled at them playfully fighting. I knew what would come next.

Rafael came up to me, asking in worry. “I thought they were getting along?”

“They are! See, they’re play fighting.” I give him a strained smile.

Alerted by this, Rafael’s eyes narrowed. But before he can ask me another question, the purse flew past us. Its contents spilled on the floor. I can see the ed of the peper eye dust and the hidden shine of the crest ring.

I laughed, trying to hide my nervousness. Oh Talia, why am I the one nervous when it’s Braums that will be revealed? I bent down to pick up the contents, accidentally looking up to see the understanding eyes of Rafael.

Looking at him, so calm and understanding… What did I do to deserve someone such as Rafael by my side? I picked up the ring, examining it. Blue with the crest of the royal family, numbers that even the Reaver Ash knew nothing about.

“Braums?” I asked him, my mouth dry. “This- Is this a crest ring?”

The joyful atmosphere ends and guilt eats up at me. Selling out my fellow secret royalty, oh man they’ll definitely hate me for revealing Braums’ truth while still hiding mine. It’s even worse when Rafael knew and Paris didn’t.

“Huh?” Paris grabbed the ring from me. “Braums, this crest- You’re _Prince_ Braums?!”

Defeated, Braums nodded his head. “I- Yes. I am Prince Braums.”

I can see the anger on his face mixed with the heart break and the betrayal. Paris’ eyes widening and suddenly he looked as large as a house. Tearful, Baums flinched away from his glare.

“All this time… We’ve been travelling with you…. No. I’ve been travelling with a liar, a liar just like the rest of the royal family!” Paris scowled. “I’m done, I’m through! Good luck going all the way to Oppehn. Alone.”

“Wha- But, we made a contract, I hired you to protect me!” Braums stood up.

Scoffing at him, Paris turned away, marching to the door. “I refuse to help someone from the royal family. Not after all your family did was sit on your high throne while _my_ people were starved and forced from their homes.”

“Paris, I-” I have never seen him so anxious, his hands opening and closing as he looked to Rafael and I but found us silent.

“ _You_ , nothing. I’m leaving.” He took to the door, opening it. “Hmph, what a farce this all is, we aren’t even real adventurers.”

Braums took a hold of his hands as protests filled his mouth. “Not real adventurers? I’ll have you know I nhid my identity to keep myself from danger such as bandits and thieves but all this time I’ve been travelling with fakes? If you’re not adventurers then who are you?”

“People your family ruined.”

Paris shoved him away, running out the door to who knows where. Braums turned to me, angry and confused.

“And what about you, you betrayer?”

I took a deep breath and fixed him with a sad look. “If I’m a betrayer then who ae you to say what you ae? This shall be my next lesson for you, Prince Braums, desperation drives people to what they can to survive. Solan has been taxed to oblivion and its people have fled to look for work and pay. Who are we, if not desperate people, pushed to do whatever means there is to live?”

I don’t know where those words came from. It must have been my frustrations in the last life, when I wanted to tell him about corruption and people. Then again, that’s the perks of knowledge from a future considered to be the Golden Age of Information. I take a deep breath and exit the door as well.

* * *

By the time I’m out of the inn, I’m faced with Rafael.

“You knew he was the prince.” He stated, factually.

I sighed and nodded my head. “He has to be revealed to make it easier. You’ve seen Paris’ reaction, what more for when we reached Oppehn?”

“Is that what you saw in the restaurant? Paris’ anger at Braums in Oppehn?” He moved closer to soothe me.

I shook my head. “No. I… I saw a Shika stab me.”

“ _Rai…”_ Rafael frowned, hugging me now. “The Shika, you gave me the description yesterday, that’s the one who did it.”

“Yes.”

I hugged him back and melted to his touch. He’s warm and soothing. However, I have to do my part for this scene.

“Go and comfort Braums, I’ll look for Paris. As of right now, the little prince is in more need of your comfort than I.”

His face twists. “I… I’m not good at comforting people.”

“I know, but your presence is a comfort enough already. Go, that’s my order.” I gave him a stern look.

“But- Suzaku-sama, what about your vision?” Hesitation filled his voice, fear touched it as well. Is my wellbeing that important to him? Then again, I would be devastated if he were to die, why else would I also pair Braums with Paris if not to avoid that ending?

I put a hand on his arm “I’ll be alright. Paris does not know the city well, he couldn’t have gotten far.”

With that, he goes back in the inn to comfort Baums. In turn, I leave to find Paris, one hand on my tonfas.

* * *

I found him in a park near the market. Its sunset when I found him there, looking up at the sky with defeat.

“Paris.” I sit beside him.

“I _know_ , Ash. Benefit of the doubt and logical thinking but I just- I _can’t_ how many meetings has he sat through? How many hearings did he have the chance to speak up but _didn’t_? I can’t be like you, all smart and rational, you have a plan for almost everything but this?” He groans and covers his eyes with his arm. “All I can think about is how many times we’ve suffered. How many times you gave out your food till you only ate once a day?”

“I’m not blaming you or judging you, Pear. Those are understandable concerns, but… You know him as more than another face in the royal family and you’re lovers, I’m sure you can tell him what’s wrong and he’ll try to fix it.” I touched my necklace for some courage.

Between Paris and me, I’m more of the voice of reason than he was. “Look at it, he’s alone without any sort of royal entourage, his father must not approve of him going out, and the fact we found him _near_ Solan, I think he went there, to see for himself what’s wrong.”

Paris sighed. “…You’re right. But I’m still mad.”

“Just talk it out with him, Pear. It’ll be alright, you’ll see.” I gave him a comforting smile and he nodded.

We sat there in silence as Paris stewed and I thought back to the vision. Since I’m fine, it must have been a fake. I slumped in relief. It has to be, after all, we’re already in our last day in Riddel and nothing has happened.

* * *

It’s nightfall when we get back. Paris is still angry but much calmer now. When we got to the room, we found Rafael holding Braums like a child. Braums, curled up in Rafael’s arms. Looking at how hopeless the little prince looked made this moment much more heart clenching.

I stood aside while Paris and Braums sorted themselves out. Braums stood up from Rafael’s hold, giving Paris a once over.

“Well? Do you have something to say to me?” He asked, hands on his hips.

Paris scowled, anger reignited. “Yes, I do.”

“Go on and say it then,” I can hear his false bravery in his voice. “Come on, I know you’ve been waiting for this you brute. Say what you want to say and let’s be done with it. Chop, chop!”

Every word that came out of Braums mouth infuriated Paris, more and more till his patience snapped. He punched Braums in the face. The sound echoed in the tense room. The little prince fell on the floor, rubbing his cheek with tears in his eyes.

“Do you have any idea what it’s like to stave? To turn people away from my restaurant because there’s not enough plates? Do you know what it’s like to see everyone slowly leaving until there’s barely anyone left on the island? Ash had to sell their _deceased_ mother’s clothing and almost all of their possessions just to keep us alive when we moved to New Trinity.”

Ashamed, Braums looked away.

“You’re right… I, I went to Solan. I saw it, the empty houses, and the streets. I’m sorry for not doing much. If you had asked my father, he’d say we’re prospering but I-I knew that had to be false when the nobles are the ones paying less compared to the common people. At first he was against me going out, his advisors are the only reason I was able to go.”

Blinked up at Paris led to tears falling down his face. “I realized quickly that the kingdom was dying, squeezed by the hands of the nobles. If I return, I’m sure I can convince my father that it’s not the nobles who sit on their pile of inherited gold but the common people like you and Ash and Rafael that make this kingdom run!”

_Perhaps he’s not as naïve as I thought he was, that speech and those wide teary eyes have definitely brought down Paris’ guard._ I thought, hiding a smile. It seems that today has been a day of speeches. And I can see that the argument is more of less over with.

“Paris, I get that you’re mad but did you really have to punch him?” I said, coming up to his side.

Braums waved a hand. “It’s okay, he didn’t punch that hard. I barely even felt it.”

“Hey!” Paris scowled, “Can’t you at _least_ pretend to be hurt?”

Standing up and drying his tears, Braums fixed him an unamused look and said in the flattest voice I’ve ever hear, “Oh. Oh, I have been hut so badly. Someone please get me a healer.”

I snickered at this. “He’s got you there, Pear.”

“And what are _you_ laughing about, huh?” Paris scowled, playfully shoving me.

I shoved him back. “The fact that we _really_ are the Pretenders Guild!”

Paris blinked at this. “Hey, you’re right!”

Looking at Braums and Reafael, I grinned and began to pull them into the conversation. “Well, I suppose the secret is out, we’re not adventurers, Fai is.”

“If Paris hadn’t told me, I never would have guessed.” Braums smiled. “After all you and Rafael fight so well.”

“ _I_ can fight but Paris is just a chef. Back on Solan, I was actually a musician.” I pulled out the flute, twirling it around.

“Oh? Is that what I was hearing late into the night?” Braums raised an eyebrow.

“Yup!” I grinned at him, giving him a thumbs up. “I played as entertainment in Paris’ restaurant.”

Paris sided up to Rafael, “Well, now that we all revealed our identities, what secret are _you_ hiding, huh, Rafael?”

“I-” “-Ah, don’t be silly, Paris. Rafael’s too honest for that!” I cut him off, giving Rafael a secretive smile.

“That’s true.” Paris then grabbed Baums. “So, fearless leader, what say you on this argument?”

Before Braums could ask what Paris was going to do, I pointed at them. “I hereby punish all the liars in this room with a verdict of a group hug!”

“You got it, Ash!”

And immediately we’re engulfed into tangled ball of hugs. Paris’ wide arms held Braums and Rafael in place. While I slung my arm around Rafael and Braums, I can see Braums tried to return out, his arms, sitting on Paris’’ and Rafael’s midsection. Rafael was just standing as still as a stick.

Warmth filled my heart. For all of my schemes, all I really want is for all of us to be happy.

“Er, how long do these group hugs last?” Braums asked when he realized we have yet to let go.

“Traditionally? Ten minutes!” I laughed.

“Ten minutes?! Oh dear.” Braums spluttered.

“Ahaha, I was just messing with you.” I smiled as Paris finally let go of us.

Braums sighed and then gave us all a welcoming smile. “I suppose that after all this, my room is open-”

“Oh really?” Paris gave him a flirtatious look. “Then don’t mind if I do.”

“-OPEN FOR YOU TO USE THE EXTRA BED IF YOU WISH.” Braums flushed, running back to his room.

I snickered. “Well, it seems no one is what they said they were.”

“That’s not true, I knew you weren’t real adventurers.” Rafael replied.

Paris for his part seemed to be having a field day. “Haha, all I’m thinking about is the fact we sailed with the prince. We _ate_ with the prince.”

“We feared for our lives with the prince!”

“We took a bath _with_ the prince.” The smile on Paris’ face grew bigger and bigger. “We joked with the prince, flirted with the prince-”

I rolled my eyes at the last bit. “Oh now that’s just you, Paris.”

“Erm, we ate with the prince?” Rafael said, trying to get the joke.

As the novelty of it died down and we got too tired to laugh, I settled on the shared bed with Rafael. It seems that my vision was wrong. I can’t say I’m surprised since the whole ‘vision’ thing was a lie to explain my knowledge. Still, it’s a bit disappointing that it isn’t actually real since that would have been real handy when dealing with Rai since getting to Oppehn was basically the ending of the game.

Still, why is it I have a dreadful feeling that I’m speaking so soon?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story has reached 100 pages on Microsoft word! Yay! *party noises* I loosely based the play off of 'The Song of Everlasting Regret' by Bai Juyi but then I realized, the plot had changed a lot so I couldn't call it 'The Song of Everlasting Regret' and I instead named the palace after the Emperor in the poem. As fo the explanation on the hair style, I based it of off what I saw in plenty of wuxia, xianxia, and xuanhuan Chinese novels and dramas. My main reference was MDZS and Scum Villain, while also looking at the crown of Zewu-Jun in CQL. Btw the 'Death of a Thousand Cuts' is a form of tortue that eventually ends in death, it consists of the person slowly being cut up for an extended period of time before they end up bleeding to death. Y i k e s.
> 
> The names 'Genji' and 'Hikaru' are references to the 'Tale of Genji' by Murasaki Shikibu as Genji was called Hikaru Genji or 'Shining Genji'. The name Akimaru and Fraelan were made up by me. Akimaru being 'Autumn Perfection/ Autumn Circle' and Fraelan being based on 'Faelan' as in 'Little Wolf'. 
> 
> I had initially intended to end this chapter after Braums reveal but then I decided I wanted to start the total canon divergence on the next chapter to make it neater and easier on myself. Now, my usb had all my files including the game file of TPG, so I had to wing this scene on my own without looking at the official dialogue and script. Luckily, Liar, Liar had been saved on my desktop but sadly, the rest of my written works in that usb is gone. It's disheartening to say the least. I had so many written and unpublished works as well as WIPs for MDZS and many others. My approximate guess on the loss is a total of more than 200K words. Which suck. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and have a nice day!


	18. Of Best Laid Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shanking people has never been so fun, same goes for kidnapping them!

Standing outside the inn with Rafael, a swirling pit of nervousness fills me. The vision hasn’t happened at least, not yet. The fact I’m not sure if I should trust it or not has me on edge. Was I safe? Or am I not?

“Paris and Braums are awfully late.” I commented, looking at Rafael.

Rafael looks at the inn with consideration. “To be fair, Braums _did_ buy plenty of things yesterday.”

“I’m just eager to get out of here.” I sighed, my hand on the hilt of my ninjato, tapping the guard as my eyes darted around.

There’s barely people around early in the morning. The only ones around are the vendors setting up their shops or the few people who enjoy waking up early. I can see a Cubi woman with a paper and a basket, presumably to shop. I can see a Reaver vendor, hauling around a pulley filled with what must be his wares and a handful of Shika. Those Shika happened to be the tanghulu vendors so I paid no mind to them.

Surveying the scene brought no problems, not a single sign of that pink haired and pale eyes Shika. The only one pink haired would probably be that Shika girl, running to the theatre from our direction. She’s running so fast, I’m guessing she’s part of a theatre group. She has a hat over her head, the brim covering her eyes from the morning glare.

Just as she passed us by, Rafael pulled me closer to him. His hand grabbing my arm ruffly.

That’s when I felt it.

“Suzaku!”

I cuss, reaching to wear I was stabbed. Wincing at the pain, I realized it wasn’t on my chest but on my midriff. Looking at the direction the Shika had gone, I staggered trying to run after her.

I cuss when I stumble and fall to the ground. The injury had me weak and dizzy from the loss of blood. Rafael held me up.

“Fai?” I looked up at him. “I thought… I thought you’d go after her.”

“You’re more important, Suzaku.” He told me and I looked away.

 _He finally dropped the honorifics…_ I closed my eyes as he led me back inside the inn. Taking a deep breath as he settled me on a chair, I knew who was behind the attempted assassination.

“It seems he knows I exist.” I sigh in defeat, wincing when my wound acted up. “We need to get a healer.”

Footsteps echoed in the corridor and I hear something fall to the ground.

“A-Ash?” Paris rushes over to my side, his eye taking in my injured form. “What happened?”

I must have looked a mess, no doubt the blood on my clothes makes it look worse than it is. Seeing as I can’t hide this as me being clumsy with my ninjato, I guess this means I have to tell them everything. Turning my head, I see Braums getting a healer from the appalled inn keeper.

 _It’s not like I could keep it a secret forever._ I frowned, finally landing my eyes on the silent but protective presence of Rafael. He looks at me with the razor sharp focus of a blade’s edge. I nod at him and he nods back.

“Get Braums here, I’ll explain everything.” I tell Rafael.

He leaves as Paris takes a seat beside me and holds my shoulder in a death grip. “Ash, what’s going on? What do you mean explain everything?”

I can only hope Paris forgives me for lying to him for basically our entire life. “I’m sorry I never told you this before. I… I did not want to involve you in this.”

“Ash, you’re talking nonsense-” “-Shut up, Pear. Please, this is painful enough already.”

Braums came back, worried with questions on the tip of his tongue. He’s silent though, I’m assuming Rafael told him. With all of my friends here, I looked at them and parted my hair, revealing the red flower on my forehead.

“My name is not Ash but Suzaku, the Crown Heir to the Phoenix Throne of Shikan.” I kept my eyes on them, not willing to show submission, not for this. “I am being hunted down by the current holder of the Phoenix Throne, Rai. I’m sorry that I had to lie to you and that this is how it came out but I do not regret hiding it from you.”

Paris’ eye went wide and his face twists with an anguished expression. Braums, on the other hand, can’t keep his eyes away from the flower. Rafael leans closer to me, as if hoping to protect me from whatever it is they were about to say.

“Ash, no, Suzaku… You lied to me. About everything. I- Saints, is that why your mother died?” Paris runs a hand through his hair. His eyes going back to my injury. “Is that why you got stabbed?”

“Yes.” I looked him, watching him process it. His hands always needed something to do when he’s anxious. I can see it in how they run against his collar and on his neck, through his already ruffled hair and then on his sleeves. “Rai assassinated my mother after learning of her existence. He must have learnt of mine, since he saw fit to assassinate me too.”

Braums finally finds his words as he asks his own questions. “Oh Saints, I’ve been ordering around Shika royalty.”

Paris gives his lover a dry look. “Of all things you focus on, it’s _that_?”

“Don’t give me that look! I’m the prince of this country and I’ve already ruined diplomatic relations with a foreign country.” Braums huff and I roll my eyes at their bickering.

“ _No_ , Braums, you did not ruin diplomatic relations.”

“A-Suzaku, why didn’t you tell me this before? We _grew up_ together! Didn’t you trust me?” I can hear the doubt and the sadness in his voice and I fixed him with a look.

“Paris, if you knew, you would have been a target too. I… I didn’t want to involve you in this. I mean look at me, for Talia’s sake, I’m stabbed.” The healer is taking their time for sure, Talia’s light what’s taking them so long?

“Rafael?” Paris asks, “Did you know?”

“Paris-” “-Don’t ‘Paris’ me, you’ve been hanging around him since day one. Did. He. Know?”

I turn away from them in shame and nodded at Rafael to speak.

He does as told. “Yes. I knew since the time on the ship.”

“ _He_ knew.” Paris said through gritted teeth. “Rafael knew. A strange you barely even met and _you_ told him but not me?”

“ _Rafael_ ,” I scowled at him, “Can keep himself protected, but _you_ can’t! Paris. You are a chef, he’s an adventurer.”

“Why? Why did you trust a stranger you never met? He may be a Shika and an adventurer but why?” Paris’ anger left like it came, instead I see tears in his eye and a deep well of _hurt._

Talia, I hate this so much.

“…I haven’t said everything yet. Wait, I’ll need Rafael’s permission of this. _Fai, is it alright if I told them about you being the Grim Reaper?_ ”

“ _You may. It seems Rai has made his move regardless and once the Shika reports that I protected you, then n doubt I’ll be implicated.”_ His analysis is sound so I began organizing all of this in my head.

“According to legend, it is said that the royal family are descended from Talia herself. It is said that her light brought visions sometimes to the royal family o they had some sort of supernatural ability due to being demigods. This legend is true, I have visions of what could come in the future. Rafael made up most of my visions.” The lie was more of a truth seeing as most of my thoughts and memories lied with Rafael. I didn’t need much for Paris since I was growing up with him and Braums was easy to handle since his situation seemed straight forward.

“Visions…” Paris groans and holds his head. “Saints, first Braums is secretly a prince, then _you’re_ secretly the lost heir of a country, and now _visions?!_ You are a magnet of shitty situations.”

“Hey, I was born into this.” I scowl. “I wasn’t done yet. Rafael’s important since he’s basically an ex-employee of Rai’s. He’s the Grim Reaper.”

Braums pales. “The-the Grim Reaper?” Tears fills his eyes as he pales. “Saints, I bossed around _the Grim Reaper and Shika Royalty!”_

“He’s retired.” I cut though his cries. “Rafael’s sister is being held hostage because Rai wants _him_ to assassinate the king. I’ve figured out a plan to get his sister back but if Rai found out about me, then it might be that he’s taken this into his own hands. Point of the matter is, Rai has his own assassins since he’s currently Emperor.”

“Suzaku, are you telling me that-” Paris cut himself off and sighed. “Shit, we need to get there as fast as possible.”

“Don’t worry, we still have time. Oppehn is at most, three days away and the only way to get in would be with permission from the nobles living inside or a permit like the merchants have.” _Plus, forging is hard when you don’t have someone to get the ‘official’ local papers, at least I hope._ “We just have to get there faster than them.”

The healer finally arrived in after how many minutes. As I get bandaged up inside one of the rooms, Rafael carries my pack alongside his. I hand him the ninjato.

“You’re better off with a melee weapon just in case. I already have my tonfas.” I order him, taking the medicine that the doctor gave me once he finished. “Thank you, Healer.”

“Braums already paid.” Rafael said. “Are you ready?”

“We have to be quick.” I nod. “And for what it’s worth, thank you for standing beside me, Rafael.”

A grim Paris and a worried Braums greet us and without a word, we leave.

* * *

Oppehn is easily two to three days away and we had no time to lose if we wanted to get to there in time. I’m alright with saving the king’s life even if it means my plan for _that_ is ruined. Besides, it seems to me that all of my plans have been laid to waste the moment I got stabbed.

The way to Oppehn is tense and quiet. I can tell Paris is still angry at me from the silent treatment. It huts but what can I expect?

We couldn’t get any horses, Paris doesn’t know how to ride one and Braums has a distinct dislike for them. It’s alright though since Rafael made a point on how being on horses makes our presence much more noticeable despite how fast they are.

So we’re on foot.

* * *

Night falls and we make camp near arrive. Rafael and I took the pains to hide the camp. We have rations from Riddel and under my discretion, no fires were started. It’s a cold night but at least the light of the moon is enough.

Rafael advised we have a rotation of people on watch though Braums would be too sleepy to even be alert or he’d jump at every little thing. Paris at the very least was willing to cooperate, knowing that now isn’t the time to get mad. I volunteered for first watch with Paris getting the last since he happened to be used to waking early thanks to his restaurant.

Currently, it’s the end of my watch. With a tired sigh, I walk up to Rafael’s tree but find him already down.

“Good morning, Rafael,” I yawned, “You’re turn.”

“…Are you alright, Suzaku-sama?”

I raise an eyebrow at him. “Back with the honorifics, Fai?”

“I apologize for earlier, it was rude of me to call you so intimately like that.” Rafael bowed to me.

 _And just when I thought he’d drop the honorifics._ “You have my permission to call my name without honorifics, Rafael.”

Platinum eyes go wide with shock. “But-”

“Please,” I cut him off, “You’ve long since grown to be much more… Important to me.

He stayed silent and nodded his head. “As you wish, Suzaku.”

Hearing him say my name without any honorifics pleases me. I was too focused on being stabbed to enjoy the way he said it. He says it like it’s precious and beautiful. So gently too, like smoke curling around branches as it fades into the night.

A snap brings our attention away. Rafael jumps back up into his tree and I hide behind it, my tonfas out.

The curled horns catch my eye and I bite my lip when I recognize the colors.

_Rai._

Rafael sees this and immediately an arrow flies, jamming itself in her neck. More of Rai’s team comes in as another one comes to fight off Rafael. For his part, he draws his bow and begins firing arrows around, tying to bring all the attention on him. Two more follow after, leaving four behind.

I crawl though the shadows, watching as they tie up Braums and Paris. I hide behind a bush, waiting for the person scouting the perimeter to pass me by.

In a flash, I bring him down, my hand over his mouth and my other dragging him down. I land as silently as I can while the man struggles. Wrapping my legs around to put him in a body lock, I snap his neck.

The snapping alerts the other three of my presence and I take out my throwing knives. There’s the obvious leader, one who started a fire and the other two who were keeping an eye on the two.

“Talia’s horns, I thought you used a bow, Grim Reaper.” The leader scowls when the knife takes out the one tending to the fire.

I stay silent, throwing my daggers at the guards. One deflects it with his sword and the other crouches, carrying Braums as a shield.

“Take the prince to the rendezvous point!” The leader shouted. Cussing, I knew I had to face them in combat.

As Braums is carried off, Paris wakes up to this mess.

“S-Suzaku?” Paris shouts in confusion.

“Damn it, Pear!” I scowled as the leader stopped and laughed.

With his sword out, he looks at me with geed in his eyes. “The Crown Heir… I had fun killing your mother. She denied you ever existed, said you died on the way here alongside your traitor of a father.”

I stiffen at this. He… He killed my mother. I can remember the way her corpse looked, her horns cut off. There was blood. So. Much. Blood. Her body had been stiff when I cleaned it. Cold. Lifeless. The stab wound glaring at me.

He killed my mother.

My breath shakes and my hands tighten around the handles of my tonfas.

_He killed my mother._

My vision suddenly tunnels, focusing only on my mother’s killer. Anger flood me and I rush to fight him. His jeering laughter unsettles me but it doesn’t deter me when all I can remember is my mother holding me the night of her death and sending me away.

My tonfa makes contact with his chest. A loud crack echoes through the clearing.

I want him to feel pain.

I want him to suffer.

I continue hurling my tonfas at him, even when he crumples onto the ground. Screaming. Why do I hear screaming?

“Suzaku,” Paris shouts, his deep voice can be heard over the screaming, “Snap out of it!”

His voice brings me back to the moment. I’m staring at the beaten up body of my mother’s killer. The man isn’t breathing. I realize the screaming stops and my breath is labored. _Was I… Was I the one screaming?_

“Behind you!”

It’s only the warning of Paris that allows me to parry the strike of the sword. Though, having exhausted myself on the leader left me weaker and much more tired than I should be. I wince. It doesn’t help that I’m wounded.

My strength leaves me as pain on my side flares. Lifting a hand to it, I find it warm and damp. _Fuck, the wound reopened!_

“Paris, crawl to one of my daggers and use it to cut the ropes. Run as fast as you can.” I called out to me.

Scowling he shouts at me. “I may have been angry at you but no way am I leaving you alone to _die_ , Suzaku!”

“Do as I say!” The tonfa grows closer to my face. “Please, Paris. I’m ready to die. This is why I never told you, you stupid rabbit!”

“Damn it, Suzaku, I forgive you and I’m sorry for being stupid just, don’t die!”

With trembling hands, the sword grew closer and closer until it’s a hair’s breath away from me.

_Thwack!_

The resistance I had earlier disappeared. My eyes travelled down to see an arrow sticking out of his chest. Shocked, I belatedly realize where that arrow came from. Kicking the body off, I stood up.

“Fai!” I shouted as he landed into the camp, undoing the ropes on Paris. “Braums has been taken. The leader mentioned a rendezvous point but we don’t know where.”

“We’ll can go to the capital. Most likely, the rendezvous point is close to it.” Rafael frowned. “There’s only one man carrying him so it might be easy to track him.”

I stopped the fire and kicked dirt on it to hide our tracks. “Track him then. Paris pack up the camp, we need to leave. Now.”

 _Let’s hope the little prince won’t end up dead._ I thought as I grabbed my pack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took so long. I also had to do some school work and then I played some Cinderella Phenomenon since I had a writer's block. After playing through like, three routes, I finally got an idea on how to go about this. Anyway, I had planned to kidnap Braums at the end of the chapter, so I'm rather pleased by this. Hehe, we're almost nearing the end of what I dub, 'Act 1'. I'll be very excited for letting the story unfold more ahaha, I plan to make two more fanfictions based on the two other races that Ash could take, each one with a different story. With Shika Ash, they're secret royalty, Cubi Ash is going to be more fantasy based, and Reaver Ash has no set story idea yet.
> 
> As for this chapter, I was so excited to shank Suzaku, you have no idea when I had this thought I was giggling as pleased as a cat that caught the cranary. I even thought of entitling this after the joke of the Annoying Orange 'Hey, Suzaku! Knife!' hahah but then the rest of the chapter started happening and I realized it was too playful to be a chapter lol
> 
> I'm excited to finish this but I don't want to rush it since this type of story is political power stuff hahaha, luckily for you guys I'm a Humanities student so I know what I'm doing (I swear!) Beyond that, I have nothing much to say since I'm just tired ahaha Thank you so much for reading this and have a nice day!


	19. Rescuing the Little Prince

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suzaku, Paris and Rafael track down the kidnapped Prince. They also prove that friendship is the truest treasure of all.

The journey to Oppehn is long, anxious and tiring.

Rafael has been leading us through the forests. With how dire the situation is, we barely make any sort of conversation. We only stop for rest and food. I can tell Paris is the most anxious, his ears always swiveling this way and that, as if concentrating hard enough could lead him to Braums.

It’s nightfall when we arrive. Or more specifically, Rafael lost his track.

“We’ve been lucky so fa to be able to track them down.” Rafael commented looking around for clues.

“Well luck won’t get us anywhere if we _can’t find Braums.”_ Paris grits his teeth.

The frustration of the day must be catching up to him as he stops to us.

With a growl he begins his rant, hands flying everywhere. “Look, I don’t get how you two can be so damn _calm_ about this when he’s kidnapped and probably going to be murdered by Shika who work for your _former boss and the guy who wants to kill you!”_

I sigh and look at Paris. “Pear, I want to find him as much as you do but losing my temper is not going to help.”

He gives me a long look. That lone pink eye seems to be staring into my soul. Whatever he finds relaxes him somewhat, he may still be annoyed but that’s to be expected with Paris. Huffing at us, he crosses his arms. His mouth down in a firm line.

“Fine.”

Leaves rustle around us and before any of us can react, we’re trapped in nets.

I grip the rope, adjusting my position. “Paris! Are you alright?”

“I’m fine!” Paris yells back.

Surveying our situation, I find that he’s the closest to me. Rafael is across from us but I know he can handle himself. I think if I reach out I can grab the ropes of his net.

The sound of rope snapping draws my attention. I watch as Rafael lands on the ground calmly, the ninjato out and glinting dangerously. I can’t help but be amazed, Rafael managed to cut the ropes quickly and land himself without ending in a tangled mess.

It’s just in time too since he’s met with arrows. He’s handling it well until the ambushers come out. _Four against one_ , I winced, _they must have known we were coming after them!_

Examining the scene, I watched as Rafael kept them occupied. It seems that they’re ignoring me and Paris for now since we’re trapped. My hand strayed to where I kept my throwing knives. I could help Rafael, cut Paris down, then myself. But then what? Paris would be stuck in a life or death situation that he isn’t equipped to face.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see something shining.

_What?_ _Is that a pearl?_

I recall the gaudy pearls that are strung on Braums’ outfit. It is a pearl! Braums must have dropped it when he realized that his captors were planning to lead us into a trap. A gin grew on my face, _Braums you sly fox!_

I can cut down Paris, have him follow the tail, if we’re lucky, Braums won’t be guarded but if they’re guarding him we can have Paris set traps around the place. He can at least do that from his old pranking experience back on Solan. To hide his escape, I’ll also cut myself down and keep them occupied.

With that plan in mind, I reach out and grab Paris’ net towards me.

“Paris.” I hissed at him. “I have a plan.”

He gave me a frightened and dubious look. “Suzaku, how sure are you it’ll work out?”

“Ugh, _trust_ me, Pear. I may have lied to you but I would never lead you into harm’s way.” I rolled my eyes, taking out my throwing knife. “Look, trust me or not, this is the only plan I have right now. Will you listen or not?”

His mouth formed a firm line as he examined me with his eye. “…Alright. What’s the plan?”

“Okay, I’m cutting us both down, you see that pearl over there?” I point at it. “It’s Braums’. Run after it, he most likely left a trail. When you find him, use this knife to set him free. If he’s guarded though, set up some traps, use that pranking experience of yours. Got it?”

He nods his head, his eyes flickering to where the pearl is. “I’m trusting you on this one, Suzaku.”

I smile at him grimly. “That’s all I can ask. Now, here, take this knife. I’m cutting us down.”

He takes the knife and I gab both of our netting. Using another knife, I began slicing through the rope.

_Snap!_

In the blink of an eye, Paris and I fell.

Paris landed in a bush and I rolled my landing. Throwing the knife I used at one of the lackeys, I took out my tonfas and officially joined the fray. Rafael adjusts to this seamlessly, as if we’ve been fighting together for years.

None of us speaks a word as we continued the fight. I swung my tonfas around, hoping that my wound won’t reopen. _Again._

I winced when a particularly heavy attack strains my wound. We need to finish this as quickly as possible. Slamming my tonfa into some guy’s stomach, I then attack his temple. Another one quickly rushes me, having noticed my speed and vigor slowly going down.

I back away.

My back hits something and I smile. “Hello, Fai.”

“Ae you alright, Suzaku?" He asks. 

I can hear my heart beating, haze entering my vision. Narrowed my eyes, I gritted my teeth, my wound is definitely reopened. Having our opponents at standpoint gives us time to breathe but it also makes me more aware of my wound.

“I’ll be better when we finish this and find Braums.”

“Then let us make this quick.”

One of our opponents race for me. Ginning, I nudged Fai. In a flash, we spin, attack the other’s enemy. Using the opportunity, I parried a sword strike and managed to get the neck.

Turning to Rafael, I find that he also took out my opponent.

With the battle done, I scowl and touch my wound. I’ll have to bandage it again once we reach Oppehn.

“Come on, this way.” I tell him, walking after the pearls.

He follows, not even questioning me. My wound aches, making me stumble. His hands are on me in an instant, steadying me.

“You should stay back, Suzaku.” He tells me, worry on his eyes shining like metal in the sun.

I shake my head. “As much as I wish to rest, we cannot until Braums is secured.”

He frowns at this but lets it be. 

* * *

It’s not long after that we find Paris, hiding in a bush.

When he sees us, his ears perk up. Quickly, he ushers us toward him.

“Suzaku, Rafael, There’s only one guy guarding Braums. There was another one but he already left for the capital. They mentioned something about a ship to Shikan and killing the king.” He grimaced. “I don’t know about you but something seems off. Oh and I wasn’t able to set up any traps, the guy’s way too jumpy.”

Nodding, I watch as Rafael shoots his bow and easily takes out the guard. Emerging from our hiding place, we find Braums, blindfolded and tied up. Paris undoes his blindfold while I cut his bindings.

“Pa-Paris?” Braums says, blinking his eyes. Tears entered it, flowing freely down his cheeks as he shakily hugs his lover.

I turn away, sitting down with a sigh. Now that he’s alright, I can focus on recovering what little plans I had… First of all, Rai knows I’m alive. Second, Braums was kidnapped, and another was sent to presumably kill the king. Which means we have to rush off to Oppehn if we want to keep him from dying.

Braums walks toward us, Paris lending a helping hand.

“I… Oh Saints, I thought you’d never come.” He sighs, hugging Rafael before hugging me. I rub his back. Comforted by the fact that even if we’re too late to save the king, Braums is alive and hail.

“We’re here, Braums. We’ve got you.” I murmur, letting go to examine his condition.

He has a bruise on his cheek and on his arm. Rope buns around his wrists too, most likely from struggling. I gulped, thinking about how my schemes brought them into this mess.

Even if they knew about my secret now, a heavy weight had still been on my chest. After all, I only told them since I was stabbed. If it weren’t for that I would have kept it secret until all the way to Oppehn where I’d reveal it through another scheme of mine. Now that we’re all here, I should apologize to them, properly this time. With that decided, I stand up.

“Well, now that’s we’re all alive. I have to say this,” I bowed, stumbling a bit from my wound. Rafael moves to steady me and I let him. “I apologize not only for my deception but also for dragging you all into a mess. Paris, I apologize not only for lying and deceiving you, but also for forcing you on this journey. Prince Braums, as one royal to another, I have caused you disgrace and humiliation and see forgiveness.”

The two of them stare at me at me and then look at each other.

“Well, I suppose you are to be forgiven.” Braums huffs, lifting his nose high in the air.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Paris sighs. “I’m sorry too, Suzaku. I knew that you were only doing what you thought was right.”

“I must apologize as well. I did not wish to hide my profession from you two but it is difficult to explain.” Rafael bows to them.

“Oh now _you_ I fully understand. I don’t think any of us can explain ‘I’m the assassin meant to kill the king’ into a casual conversation.” Paris laughs.

Straightening up, I grin at them. Tears gathering in my eyes. “You are better friends than I could ask for.”

“Does this mean we are now required to do a group hug?” Rafael asked, looking at us with confusion.

Paris and I exchange looks before nodding. “Group hug!”

This time, our hug isn’t Paris wrapping his ginormous arms around us. Instead it’s a tangled mess of limbs and laughter. Paris and Rafael are careful not to touch my wound and Braums struggles to reach me with his hands.

“Are we going to do this the traditional way?” Braums asks with a teasing gin of his own.

I snicker, wincing as my laughter makes my wound ache. “Ahaha, guys stop making me laugh! It hurts!”

“Love hurts, Suzaku!” Paris snickers. “And you will take your friendship and be happy with it!”

The throwback to my words from the ship makes me crack up even more, tears falling from my eyes from laughter and pain. “Paris! Shut up you stupid rabbit!”

“Oh come on, you love the sound of my voice!” He grins.

Rolling his eyes, Braums says pointedly. “You two…”

“Erm, as much as I appreciate the hug, having you both yelling is painful to my ears.” Rafael says, causing us to laugh even more.

Breaking the hug, I wipe away the tears. “Well guys, this is all fine and dandy but we have to get going. Oppehn is only an hour away.”

“Oh, right.” Braums sigh at the reminder of our circumstances. “Come on then.”

Rafael takes my bag and his own while Paris carried Braums’ things.

“Even with all these reveals, some things never change.” I smile, looking at them all as a giddy, bubbly feeling rises in my chest.

_Even if things didn’t work out the way I planned, I’m pretty happy with how it all turned out…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not being able to update much, I had a brownout since a typhoon was in the area. Then I had to do school work since finals is this week. |Anyway, we're now almost at the end of arc 1! Now all we need to do is deal with Oppehn then I can start working on arc 2, which is going to take me a while. Haha, I've mainly been focusing on how I'm going to deal with Rai since this is the first time I'm trying my hands at a politic heavy story. I already have my basic major points and I still need to deal and address the Rafael/Suzaku romance, which I will work to develop more. Besides all that, I have to say, the group hug at the end was based on 'Autumn's Journey', another visual novel on itch.io about a wannabe lady knight and two dragons. it's a cute story and I love the art and music! 
> 
> That's it for now, since you've been patiently waiting for this chapter, thank you! I'm also grateful that you've reached all the way to the end, have a nice day!


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oppehn may be reprieve but it also represents the blood that stains Suzaku and the lengths they will go through for the Phoenix throne.

Rushing to Oppehn, Braums brings us entrance with a cold look at the gate guards and a flash of his crest ring.

As we enter it, I frown to myself. Rafael stays by my side, tense and ready for anything. This is it. A decision I must now make once more, because even if they knows about the fact I’m secret royalty, even if they knew about Rafael being the Grim Reaper, I never told them my plans. I’ve never thought much about my plans and if I should change it, not since we had to rescue Braums.

Now that we’re here however…

_“Are you alright, Suzaku?”_ Rafael asks me, his eyes darting to me and then falling to where I had been chewing my lip. I stop myself and give him a nervous smile.

_“If only in appearances…”_ We’re nearing the castle now. My heart is hammering like a sword in a forge. My chest tightens. Is it cruel? Yes, but in the end… _“Rafael, if the King isn’t already dead, kill the king and the assassin.”_

_“Suzaku, I thought that-”_

I shake my head at him. _“I may be regretful of this but the stakes are too high, Rafael. The king must die.”_

That decision was not one made lightly or on the spot. If I can get even a small amount of support from Revaria that won’t have me handed on a silver platter to Rai, then the king has to die. King Baxter would rather send me on a silver platter tied with a bow than risk offending Shikan.

There’s a reason why he heavily oppressed the Shika by trying to put a cap on the religion first, trying to separate us from our heritage, and that’s because of fear. Years ago, King Byron of Revaria took over the old Cubi territories, that they once called Cwevhi. Through invasion and careful integration, the man successfully took over Cwevhi and now with the numerous Shika immigrants that came with the fall of the Emperor, my grandfather, he seeks to do the same.

The very thought of the many Shika immigrants and their treatments that were meant to break them from their culture made me queasy. King Baxter knew what he was doing and he was doing it with the expense of his _own_ people. Though he’s not doing it as cleanly and as elegantly as King Byron did, he’s still working towards that goal.

My thoughts must have shown on my face since Rafael places his hand on my shoulder and nods.

_“Understood, Suzaku.”_

To Braums’ and Paris’ relief the king is still alive.

I ignore the dialogue, instead I focus on the assassin. We don’t even know what the assassin looked like, let alone where to look. I suppose I’ll have to hope that Rafael finds the assassin or I get a handy and well timed vision of them. Rai knows that I exist, so I’ll need to think of a way to deal with that. His knowledge of my existence means I lost my edge.

The king rises from his throne and leaves with Braums. I follow them with my eyes, hoping and praying to Talia that the assassin won’t end the Revarian Royal Family. When they disappear, we’re escorted to our rooms.

I close the door of my room with a click and immediately get to dressing my wound and preparing myself. I hide my weapons, count my knives and take a deep breath. According to the game, the king is killed sometimes before or after sunset. I can only hope this works.

The knocking alerts me and I pray to Talia that it won’t be Paris or Braums. Instead, when I open it, I find a cool looking Rafael.

He bows. “I apologize for disturbing you. I wished to see you before I go after the assassin.”

“Ah…” I looked at my sharpened knives. “Come in, then.”

Closing the door, I can’t help but feel the awkward tension. “…Why did you come here?”

Rafael frowns and gives me a look, platinum eyes shining like a sword. His mouth twists downward and he opens his mouth. _“I came here to see you, like I said…”_

I knew what he meant. If this went wrong, he would be killed, hung for trying to assassinate the king. I would be shipped off to Rai and Talia knows what would happen to Lorelai. In a way, this final act could be our finale or merely the start of something with even higher stakes.

_“I see.”_ I look away from him, my eyes dating to gaze at the knives on my bed.

We have to get this right or else the only thing we’ll get is ash and death. My heart pounds as I remember the very first ending I got from the game…

* * *

_“No.” They whispered in horror, eyes riveted on the screen as they dank in the text. “No way! This can’t be happening!”_

_As the screen faded to black, they scowled. “I didn’t think he would actually kill the king! I was expecting him to go ‘I’m retired’ or something.”_

_As the text described how Rafael died, they couldn’t react. Tears pooling in their eyes as they imagined the worried face of Rafael. Even if this was Braums’ route, they still can’t help but want to cry. After all, they left Rafael for last, wanting to go from top to bottom._

_And yet…_

_“Ugh, I’m redoing this!”_

* * *

Having Rafael died in my first run may have had a hand in why I care about him so much. After all, such a death felt like my responsibility because I wasn’t able to get the good ending first. Then after doing his route, I can’t help the fact I loved him as a character.

His hand moves to touch me on the cheek. I shiver, feeling his warm hands settling lightly on it. The texture of the gloves breaks me from my thoughts. _His delicate hands on my face…_ I flush as I think about what he must be feeling.

“Please, don’t look away from me.”

My heart is hammering in my chest like taiko drums. His voice has a somber tone to it, like an airy flute in the night. At his words, I find myself not wanting what could be the last time I see him to be my knives on a bed.

I turn to face him, my eyes rushing to examine his face. I can see the micro expressions. The way his eyes seem to pull at the ends, the way his cheeks tighten as if he’s about to cry. His thumb caresses my cheek, leaving a trail of heat behind. Steel black eyes gaze at me, piercing my soul.

My hands reach out, finding a place on his shoulders. His arm moves behind my back, hovering as if waiting for my permission. I step closer. I can’t take my eyes away from him. His arm finally brings me to his embrace. Our breaths mingle together.

_“Suzaku.”_

I know what he’s implying.

For the past month or two, I’ve been avoiding this. Avoiding and denying because I know that if I let myself fall, I won’t bother trying to get up. Excuse after excuse and denial after denial but… In the end, I find myself not wanting to have us possibly end like this.

No. Not when we both could die horrible deaths with no closure of what could have been.

_“Rafael.”_

I give him a smile back and I move my hands to where his sits on my face. Still keeping eye contact, I lift up his hand and maneuver it so that they hold. I shudder at the sensation of _his_ warmth over my hand. Like an electric shock, I can feel it like a ghost, tingling and sending goosebumps down my spine. This is it. We’re Shika Kissing now.

Not a word is spoken.

All there is between us is the electricity running down our fingers. Eventually it moves to a gentle hold, his finger pads sliding across mine, bringing another shuddering sensation. I’ve kissed people before in my past life. Though I never had any relationships back on Solan. I can confidently say that _this_ tops all of them.

Sliding my other hand around his neck, I pull him closer until our foreheads are touching.

_“Kiss me.”_

He obliges. His frown is gone now. Instead his lips are parted open and he closes the distance, our lips touching. It’s a peck at first. Soft, hesitant and sweet. The soft sensation of his lips on mine, pushing and moving has my eyes falling shut. Our still linked hands are deeply intertwined now. The way his fingers fill the gaps has me moaning into the kiss.

It’s deeper now, both kisses that is. Our hands deeply intertwined and _moving_ sends my mind into overdrive as his teeth come out and nibble at my bottom lip. We beak away and I open my eyes, trying to piece what little remains of my foggy mind is there.

“So it’s true what they say.” Rafael smiles at me. Lips kiss bruised and brighter now, turned up in a small smile that melts my heart. It’s maddening how a simple smile can make me feel so complicated.

I rest my head on his shoulder and untangle our hands, moving it his chest, feeling the fast beat of his heart.

“Oh? And what is that, Rafael?”

He chuckles, breathless and short. I drink it in regardless, enjoying the reverberating sound as his shakes his chest and echoes in my ear. His laugh is sweet like chocolate. Deep and rich and smooth, I wish I could listen to it forever.

“They say the first kiss is like a fire flower. I can see that they’re not wrong.”

I giggle, feeling lighter than ever. “First kiss, huh… This better now be our last, alright?”

My words may be teasing but it hints at the heavier topic of what may come after. His arms now wrapped around me, his lips brush against my forehead.

“No. I cannot allow it to end when it has only begun _._ ” I can feel the tension on his shoulders, in his arms as they tighten their hold as if to protect me from Rai and all the other dangers of the world.

Sighing against his chest, I reluctantly break the hug. “Then we should go, Fai. We have an assassin to stop and a life to end.”

“Understood, Suzaku.”

* * *

By the time we got there, the guards of the king were already killed. Cursing under my breath, Rafael and I opened the door of the King’s room. Hopefully the assassin didn’t get away. Peering into the room, I find that our luck hasn’t ran out yet. The assassin is there, knife lodged in the throat of the king.

Before any of us could react, the assassin has an arrow sticking out from their throat.

“That was… shockingly easy.” I blink.

Rafael gives me a wane smile and we go to examine the assassin. According to what Braums has mentioned, there was a boat for Shikan. Most likely the boat was the getaway for the Shika after doing their deed.

Pink hair and pale eyes glare even in the dim lighting of the room. I close their eyes in some semblance of kindness. The dead and I have no more qualms, so I’ll take note to burn some incense for them. Still, this only cements my theory that the boat was merely a getaway for them and Rafael as well if they had completed the act.

“Rafael, go and get Braums, alert him that an assassin had killed the king and paid the price.” I ordered him, my mind already catching up to what I could do with this.

With the king now dead and us having killed the assassin, I can definitely maneuver the alliance I wanted. Though the Revarian court will be a new platform to play on, that’ll at least bring us into relative safety. After checking the body, I found a letter on them and kept it to deal with later.

That’s when my eyes fall on the horns of the Shika…

Now, the Shika royal family does not have unique horns by any means. In fact horn shape is much like hair color, entirely up to genetics. Which is why, I find myself at a dilemma. We have the same horns. If I cut their horns I could send Rafael with them and have him present them and claim me dead.

But… Do I want to do the same thing that was done to my mother?

I stared at the horns. Should I cut them and become like the man who killed my mother? Should I let them be and lose the edge of pretending to be dead and an unknown? When I cut them off, I will have become the same as the man who killed my mother, having ordered the death of a royal, having-

“Suzaku.” Rafael’s voice brings me out of my reverie and I realize that he’s here. “Braums, Paris and the guards will be here soon.”

“Ah.” I rise up. “I see.”

His eyes narrow. _“What’s wrong, Suzaku?”_

_“… Fai, if I cut off the horns of this Shika…”_ In those platinum eyes, my own red ones reflect back. _“Will I become like him?”_

_“I cannot say. It is either your own morality that differentiates you or makes you the same. Actions define you, not the roots of your thought.”_ Rafael replied quietly. _“No matter what you choose, I’ll be with you.”_ His arms wrap around my shoulders to comfort me. I each up to hold them and sigh. For a man who seems to be carved from cold white jade, he’s very much affectionate to me.

Footsteps echoed in the corridor and Braums, Paris and the guards come in.

I turn to face them and the resolve of my decision solidifies.

Braums’s ocean blue eyes scan me for any wounds before moving to Rafael. Once assessed that we’re alright, he gives the guards an order to clean the room and gather the bodies for burial. Paris shoves past the guards, hugging us both.

“Suzaku, Rafael, are you two alright?” He asks, his hands on our shoulders and giving us a once over. That lone pink eye falling on the corpse of the Shika assassin.

“We’re alright. I found a letter on the body.” I took it out. “I’ll read this with Fai later, chances are it’s coded.”

As soon as we were left alone in the room of the deceased king, I frown and look at a teary eyed Braums. “Prince Braums, this one hopes this is not too forward, especially after the passing of the King. Howeve, may this one request that the hons of the Shika be cut off?”

To my surprise the little prince didn’t actually cry or bust into teas. Instead he blinked away the tears, took a deep breath and gave me a look of sharpened steel within those ocean blue eyes of his. I wonder when the little prince matured in what felt like a day, but I supposed having nothing to do but wait for help to arrive must have given him a lot to think about.

He didn’t question me, I think he understood as much as I did that this was not the request between two friends but instead it was from one monarch to another. Rafael does not tense behind me or move to show any sort of disapproval or any form of satisfaction. Paris is the one who pales, shocked from both the death of the king as well as my request having known that my mother had been found dead without her horns.

“Request granted, Crown Heir Suzaku. Is there any specifics on burial procedures?” His voice shakes a bit but soon smooths into the gentle water-like tone he normally has. _Revarian etiquette must have been beaten into that head of his._ I smother a snort because now wasn’t the time.

Instead, I have him a nod. “Cremation, your highness, scatter the ashes in a nearby river. The ceremony itself will only comprise of Rafael and this heir.”

He tilts his head. In the dim lighting I could swear those blue eyes are glowing. Perhaps Reavers are secretly cats much like how Cubi are definitely rabbits. “Understood. It is getting rather late, it would be best to head in for the night, Crown Heir Suzaku.”

“This one gives the Prince their condolences for the loss of the King and wishes sweet dreams and a good night.” I bowed to him.

He bowed back.

Paris darted his eyes at us, unsure of what to do as not only the Prince’s beloved but also as a commoner Cubi. Rafael had simply stayed back, acting like a body guard would which suited him fine. Then I relaxed the tension I didn’t know I had in my shoulders and threw myself to hug Braums.

“I’m sorry, Braums. You didn’t deserve to see that.” Because _I_ know what it’s like to walk in and find your family dead with blood staining the room and memories of a coppery haze. The only thing I’m glad he’s spared from is having to clean up the dead by himself.

This was the least I could do.

Paris joined us next, grateful to not have to deal with etiquette and the like just yet. Rafael, not one to avoid bonding exercises, joined last, his back a steady presence against me as I mentally apologized for everything I’ve done and will do. Talia, have mercy but I must get that throne, no matter if the red I love so will stain my soul.

Braums speaks, his voice muffled but steady, not a hint of anything but gratitude and a tiredness that will follow him. “I… Thank you, Suzaku, Paris, Rafael.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally finished the end of Arc 1! I'm really excited for this chapter since not only will Braums be the King, Paris will now be courted officially, but Rafael and Suzaku are now a thing! Plus, Suzaku's now enacted the first stage or e, their only stage of their plan and will have to scheme even more now in order to deal with Rai. Rai himself has something planned which I won't spoil yet ehehe. Also, I apologize for being unable to update this chapter so soon since I had exams and writer's block on how to go about killing the king. Now, I have to deal with what I have planned for the Revarian court! I hope you're excited as I am for it because now I'm going to deal with a bit more world building ahahaha

**Author's Note:**

> This fanfic is purely for self indulgence because the world building has me drooling and wanting more. So here I am, writing fanfiction for myself. This is actually the only thing I can think of and do productively since my other works have had me screaming from how much writer's block I've been dealing with QwQ Luckily, this managed to help me get rid of the creative juices flowing inside me. I don't really care if this Ash is like a Mary Sue since as I said, pure self indulgent, so I'm not putting in that much effort. Ash is fun and I didn't want to take away the optimistic, go getter attitude the canon Ash actually has so I'm trying to mix it as decently as possible. 
> 
> I also made Ash secretly Shika royalty since I wanted some form of court drama to be in here seeing as Rai was mentioned to be a noble so important even Reavers take note of him.
> 
> Thank you for bothering to check out this fanfic and have a nice day!


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